The Politics of High School
by julesames
Summary: I'm not considered well liked at Forks High. But I'm in love with my best friend, and next door neighbour who also happens to be quarterback for the footbal team. So what's an unpopular girl like me supposed to do? AH/AU ON HIATUS - Not abandoned
1. Late Night Walks

**Chapter One**

**Late Night Walks**

_Tap, tap, tap._ Pause. _Tap, tap, tap, tap_. Pause. I rolled over in my bed and stared at the clock. It was five in the morning. I smiled wryly to myself and pushed the covers off me. I moved across the darkened room trying to find my way toward my bedroom door, where a hook on the back held my robe. I should have known better then trying to make my way through pitch black, since I tripped over a book and fell noisily to the floor.

"Ow," I groaned. I stumbled back to my feet and rubbed my knee where it had hit floor_. _

_Another bruise to add to the collection._ I thought and stood still, waiting to hear any noise coming from my dad's bedroom before moving again. His snores were still coming loud and clear, droning through the bedroom walls. My mom, Renee, was no longer around. She left when I was twelve, she had given me the choice of coming with her or staying. I chose to stay, the idea of moving to a new place and attempting to make new friends didn't appeal to me very much.

I visited her every summer and the occasional weekend but Renee was her own woman. She was like a bird, possibly a flamingo; she was so different from everyone else. She marched to the beat of her own drum. After the divorce, she re-married and was currently travelling with her new husband, Phil. He was nice, not an overbearing type at all, though he did set boundaries for her - ones she needed - which I was thankful for. He was also ten years younger then her, which was a little weird as that meant he was only ten years older than me. Renee didn't need me. She had Phil now, so I no longer felt bad for staying behind with Charlie.

_Tap, tap, tap._ The window was continuing to bear the brunt of several small pebbles being thrown at it. I crossed the room, this time being more careful around small objects that could send me plummeting again, and found the light switch. The room was immediately filled with light, which, blinded me for a moment. I squinted around and found the window. I clambered toward it, stumbling again slightly, this time only tripping over my own feet.

I pushed the glass door open and it slid noiselessly and easily enough. "What?" I whispered into the darkness. I stepped onto the balcony, wrapping the robe around me a little tighter. The weather was warm enough during the day but darkness stole the heat and I shivered a little at the cool air.

The window directly across from me was open, the light from the room outlining the scruffy haired boy that was my best friend.

The space between us was not far. We'd once measured the it with a tape measure and it covered 12 feet and 4 inches, roughly the same length of two Edward's, give or take a few.

"I can't sleep," he said in a louder whisper. He didn't have the same worries of waking his parents as I did, as he had the bedroom on the opposite side of the house as them, but he tried to be quiet for my sake. Being quiet was, unfortunately, not something he was so good at.

I chuckled quietly. "So, you thought you'd wake me?" I gave him a quizzical look, raising an eyebrow and he laughed.

"Yep, it's boring lying awake." There was a quiet pause and I stared at him across the gap between us, considering his appearance. He wore a slightly tattered, light blue wife beater and I could see the tops of his green and blue boxers in the frame of the window pane. His bronze hair was disheveled as though he'd been tossing and turning all night, though I knew this was usually a look he went with anyway, as he never really bothered to tame the wild hair.

I'd known Edward Cullen since the age of six-years-old, when his family had moved in next door and we'd formed a friendship fairly quickly. He and his sister, Alice and I, had been pretty much inseparable ever since.

"First day back tomorrow," he said, breaking the silence. "You excited?"

I laughed derisively. "God, Edward, you should know better then that. Since when have I ever been excited about school?" I hated school, and not because of the classes or the assignments or teachers. It was the people. No, rather, the 'popular kids', or at least one popular kid in particular. I was sure that without that one, life would probably be a lot easier. Unfortunately, it never helped that I was friends with Edward and Alice who were two of the most respected students at Forks High School.

I didn't really care so much for what people said about me. Their snide comments and the whispers rolled off my back easily enough. Even their laughter whenever I fell over didn't really bother me. I was used to it. Lauren Mallory seemed to be the only one who could hurt me. Not because of what she said or did, but because she was Edward's girlfriend. Despite the fact that she hated me, Edward continued to date her, and that was what hurt the most; that he couldn't see her for what she was. Though, I knew better than to call her out on her bitchiness. It would never help things.

Who really could say they hated school because of their best friend's girlfriend? I almost felt guilty about it. I loved Edward. Yes, I was in love with Edward. The most popular guy in school. King of the classroom. He was handsome, funny, athletic, and smart. His family was rich too and his parents trusted him; they let him have parties all the time, so long as they cleaned up afterwards. I would sometimes go to their parties, but only if they were at the Cullens'. That way, once things got too out-of-control, I could slip out, unnoticed, and go home. So it was convenient that I lived right next door in these instances. Charlie didn't even mind me going to the occasional party with them. It helped him to feel like I had more friends than just the Edward and Alice.

I leaned against the railing and palmed the wood beneath my hands, feeling the smooth texture. We did this often. Late at night, one of us usually couldn't sleep, so we would wake the other up and we would stay awake together for a bit. It wasn't selfish of him to expect me to wake up for him, because he'd done it for me countless times before.

"Yeah, me neither," he admitted, quietly. I looked up shocked at his admission. Edward _loved _school. He had his football, and life was effortless for him there. Teachers went easier on him than on other students; he could get away with pretty much anything. The look on my face must have been funny because he smiled. "I just don't want the summer to end, you know what I mean?" I nodded understanding completely. I'd been dreading the summer ending since the day it started. The summer meant Alice, my brother Emmett, Edward and I being together. We'd go camping, swimming at First Beach and hiking. Emmett and Edward would play football together and Alice would drag me to the mall to go shopping.

"Yeah," I sighed. "I know exactly what you mean."

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked me. It was a little after five in the morning and it wouldn't really be considered sneaking out, just getting up early, so I conceded. I wouldn't be able to sleep again anyway.

I nodded in agreement. "Meet me at the backdoor?"

I stepped back into my room and looked around for my boots and a bigger jacket to wear over my nightie instead of my dressing gown. Once I was decent enough to be outside, I headed down the stairs and out the back door without incident. Edward was already waiting for me. It was still pitch black outside but the rear porch light shone into the back yard.

"Hey," he said in a low voice.

"Hey, back at you," I replied, then looked away feeling a pull at my heartstrings. "Did you have any place in particular that you wanted to walk to?" I asked him, starting to walk forward.

"Not really." We fell into step together and started to meander down the pathway to the forest that bordered the houses along the street. We walked in silence for a little bit, while I concentrated on my foot placement. Edward had thoughtfully brought along a flashlight, knowing that I would need it. Otherwise he would be carrying me back.

We reached a small clearing after about ten minutes of walking and Edward laid his jacket down across the dewy grass for us to both sit on. I smiled at him and followed him down to the ground, awkwardly landing on my bottom.

"I like this," he said after a moment of sitting in silence. It was beginning to get lighter now, though the sun had not yet begun its struggle to rise over the horizon. I considered him from where I sat. His brow was furrowed in contemplation. He'd thrown on a thin, cotton long sleeved shirt over his wife beater and old, black track pants over his boxers. His fingers subconsciously played at some loose threads on his pants.

"What do you like?" I asked, curious. Was he talking about getting up early and being outside? Or was he talking about being with me?

He sat back and lowered his head to the grass and then pulled on my arm so that I had to follow his movements. We lay side by side so we could stare up at the treetops and watch the dark sky become lighter and lighter.

"I like that I can be myself with you," he admitted. Something in his tone made me keep quiet though, as though there was more he wanted to tell me. I turned my head to face his but he continued to stare at the tops of the trees, focusing on something, though I wasn't sure if he was actually seeing anything. Eventually, he turned his head to look at me too. We stared into each other's eyes and after a while I began to count the golden specks in his right eye, and then in his left when he still hadn't said anything. I began to wonder then if he was going to say anything more but he finally spoke again.

"You're my best friend," he stated, like it had always been this way, which it had. I'd always known that he was my best friend but until that moment he'd never told me he thought same way of me. My heart soared and at the same time a flame inside flickered. Best _friend._ Why did I feel like I deserved more?

He reached out and brushed a hair that had fallen across my cheek and tucked it behind my ear. My heart raced and I could feel my cheeks burn and hoped it was still dark enough for him not to notice. "Say something."

_I love you._ Those were the words that would probably never come out of my mouth as I was far too chicken to every utter anything of the sort. "You're my best friend too," I said instead. "You always have been." I saw him smile in the half-light and he closed his eyes. I watched curiously as eventually his breathing became slower and more even. _He's asleep. _

A bird sang in a nearby tree and my eyes jerked open. It was lighter now and I was nestled in Edward's arms, my cheek resting on his chest. He was awake, I could tell because his chest rose and fell at a quicker pace. I shuffled to the side, feeling a little embarrassed in his hold. I stared at him as he looked down at me. "We must have fallen asleep." My voice sounded scratchy.

His mouth lifted into a crooked smile and my heart lurched at the sight of it. "Come on." He stood and grabbed my hand as I held it out for him to help me up. He pulled me to my feet and before I could step away he pulled me to his embrace and wrapped his arms around me. "I don't think I could live without you," he admitted, his voice gruff from having just woken up but his tone was light hearted. Despite this, I felt my heart quicken and my cheeks burn yet again. _Why did he have to say such things? _

"Who would I have to stay up with, without you?" He continued, stepping out of the embrace and looking at me with his crooked smile.

"Who knows, maybe you'd actually sleep through the night like a normal person?" I remarked, with a nervous giggle. His smile always made me feel a little dazed.

He laughed too and grabbed my hand pulling me along the path toward our houses. He glanced at his watch and cursed under his breath. "Come on! We're going to be late." He tugged at my hand and began pulling me along at a jogging pace.

"Edward! You're going to make me trip." I said a little breathlessly; I wasn't as fit as him.

"I won't let you fall, don't worry. Come on!" I stumbled through the forest trying hard to keep my eye out for roots and loose rocks on the ground. We were close to our houses now and Edward still had me by the hand dragging me along at a pace Alice would be jealous of. She was known for dragging me through countless shops in the mall. I didn't understand why she insisted on taking me. Alice was a social butterfly and had plenty of friends who would jump at the chance of spending their Saturday with her.

A root jumped out of nowhere and I felt the toe of my boot slide underneath, tripping me. I closed my eyes awaiting the impact of the ground and the loss of Edward's grasp as it would be snatched from him. Instead, I felt strong arms surround me, wrapping around my waist. "See, I told you I wouldn't let you fall," he said as I opened my eyes to peek up at him. I blinked confusedly and then smiled, letting a sigh of relief escape my lips. I didn't particularly want to start my first day of school with scrapes up and down my arms and legs.

"Do you want me to carry you?" He asked with a smirk. "Come on, I'll give you a piggy back ride." I laughed as he turned around and squatted down but I wasn't reluctant to climb onto his back. I loved this fun side of Edward. He tucked his hands beneath my knees and shifted me so that he could comfortably carry me the rest of the way to the house. Charlie was standing on the back porch looking for me, but when he saw me with Edward he gave an unwilling smile, trying to stick with a stern and disapproving smile.

"Sorry, Dad," I said as Edward dropped me off at the back steps.

"Sorry, chief," Edward echoed. "We went for an early morning walk. I brought her back in one piece though." Edward looked sideways at me. "Get ready, I'll see you soon."

I nodded without taking my eyes of my father. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Get inside, Bella." I knew I was forgiven. Charlie loved Edward. He would never hold anything against my best friend. If it were any other boy that I had gone off with into the woods in the early morning hours, he would have retrieved his gun or yelled and screamed for hours. Charlie trusted Edward as much as he would have trusted Emmett if it had been him who'd gone with me.

"I trust you can get yourself ready and out the door before your first class starts?" Charlie was inching toward the doorway; he was always very enthusiastic about getting to work early.

"Yeah, Dad, I'll be fine." I turned my back on him and scrambled for the staircase up to the second floor and to my bedroom. The front door closed as I shut myself in my room. Alice had picked out what she'd wanted me to wear the evening before and I glanced at the clothes lying neatly on my dresser. A blue skirt and a cream-colored, loosely fitted blouse. They weren't mine. I don't even think I owned a skirt, let alone a blouse. And there was no way I was going to wear it for my first day back at school.

I dug around in my bottom drawer and came up with a pair of worn-in jeans, dug around in another drawer and came up with a simple white t-shirt. Perfect.

Once dressed, I made my way back downstairs and grabbed a Granola bar from the pantry, ate it quickly and washed it down with a glass of orange juice. Emmett was nowhere to be found so I figured he was probably already out front showing off his new motorbike. I thought it was incredibly sexist of Charlie to allow Emmett to ride a motorbike around, but yet he forbade me from even thinking about riding one. I had protested, of course, and he had claimed it was because Emmett was older. So, I asked if in a year I would be able to buy one and he'd gone pretty red in the face at that. He had told Emmett to get rid of the bike but Emmett stood his ground with Charlie and he'd relented, the fight in him obviously gone.

He had then claimed that if it was our intention to get ourselves killed and to become another death statistic on the road, then that was just fine. Though his tone of voice suggested he didn't think it would be fine at all.

I heard the bike being started up, so I placed my empty cup into the sink in the kitchen and grabbed my school bag, slinging it over my shoulder. I locked up the house and headed down the porch steps to where Alice, Edward and Emmett were all standing around Emmett's bike.

I was on the third porch step down when I tripped and stumbled, landing on my knees and hands. My hands were scraped, but luckily my knees were fine. Thankfully, I hadn't made a mistake in choosing to wear jeans instead of Alice's skirt choice.

I was usually always covered in bruises, cuts and scrapes; I had a long history of broken bones and blows to the head, causing concussion. My family was frustrated with me, they implored that I be more careful. Emmett would joke about being my bodyguard, insisting that he should follow me everywhere. When I asked him if he felt it would be necessary to follow me into the bathroom when I was showering, he shut up. No doubt he didn't ever want to see his little sister in her birthday suit.

It was sunny this morning which was unusual for Forks. I dusted myself off and headed over to where my friends were waiting for me. Edward had already shouted out to me, a result of my stumble. He was walking toward me now and looked relieved to find that I was fine, and I endured the rather embarrassing inspection he gave my hands. "Come on Edward, we're going to be late," I said, imploring him to stop.

We walked toward Alice and Emmett who were watching me warily by Edward's car. You would have expected them to say something about it but it was really only expected for me to fall on my face every few steps. The saying 'oh Bella, you're so clumsy' would just sound repetitive. They all smiled at me and Edward held the front passenger door of his Volvo open for me as he as always.

"Hi Bella." Alice smiled, cheerful and happy as ever, though her smile faltered a little as she noticed my blue jeans and white tee. She sighed but said nothing and slid gracefully into the back seat, as I plunked not so gracefully into the front.

"Meet you there, Emmett," I called to my brother, who would be driving his new bike to school.

Alice started a one-way conversation with me from the back seat, letting me know how excited she was for all the events that were planned for that semester. I noticed Edward look up at me and he smirked, rolling his eyes a little in Alice's direction. He slid into the car and started the engine, revving the accelerator a little before putting it into gear. "Do you think you'll come to the school dance? It's halfway through the term. Girl's choice!"

I pulled a face that Alice wouldn't be able to see. "Sure, I guess." I would have to invent a reason for not going, but for the mean time I couldn't think of anything.

"Great!" she said happily and clapped her hands together like an excited child. I gave a wary side glance at Edward but he only smiled in response.

Alice was the class president and was obliged to go to all of the school events, dances, and athletic events, including football and basketball. Her duties required that she give a detailed report of all the sporting events at the weekly assembly. And because football was the most popular athletic sport at Forks High School, Alice made sure to know exactly what happened during the game. She was also keen for the after-parties. Alice loved to party. She loved to get dressed up, dance, and mingle with the population of the upperclassmen.

I'd been to a couple of parties in my time, but I mostly I kept out of that scene. The few times Alice had managed to convince me to come, she'd dressed me up, playing Bella Barbie with me, and dragged me rather unwillingly along. It would be fine for the first few hours; Emmett, Edward or Alice would hang out with me. However, as soon as any of them left my side the vultures would swoop down to collect their prey.

Lauren Mallory was the biggest raptorial bird of them all. As clichéd as it sounds, Lauren was the cheerleader to Edward's football jock status. In high school politics, they were perfect for each other. They were meant to be together; that was the way things worked.

I hated school because of her, so I tried my best to avoid her in the hallways. I hated going to the after parties that Alice dragged me along to; I avoided her there as well. It seemed to me, though, that she sought me out. She enjoyed belittling me because she knew I would never stand up to her. She saw me as weak, awkward, clumsy and graceless. She knew I was an easy target. She knew that she could influence the way others saw her by creating fear in them, and she used me to gain that apprehension.

There were few people who weren't scared of her. Edward was one of them. He was my best friend despite the fact that Lauren hated me. He couldn't understand why she despised me so and usually always caught her out on it whenever she felt she wasn't being given enough respect by her peers. Alice hated her. This was surprising, as Alice didn't really hate anyone. Yet, she saw through Lauren's manipulative ways.

Emmett hated her because of how she treated me, as most protective brothers would. The rest of the school however, treated Lauren Mallory as they would with most African predators; they stood very still whenever she was around, and held their breath, hoping that they would not be seen.

My silent reflection on school life had taken up the duration of the car ride to school and I blinked, surprised because Edward was pulling into his usual car space. It was rather interesting that it was empty. We were not early by any means, and most of the car spaces were already taken. Edward's car space was one of the closest to the school grounds as well. I deduced that it was possibly because everyone already knew it was Edward's spot. He'd established this toward the end of last year. Not that he would really mind if someone took it. I knew Edward would probably be happy enough to park in the furthest space from the school if he had to, but being popular certainly had its perks.

"Edward!" a sugary sweet, and slightly high pitch voice shrieked as I stepped out from my front seat in the car trying to be as graceful and quiet as possible. Maybe I could escape before she saw me. With my luck, however, this would not be the case. I stumbled and she glanced sideways at me, her nose turned up in distaste. She wouldn't say anything in front of Edward though.

"I missed you." She clung to him bending her face up to his waiting for him to kiss her. He smiled down at her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before looking over his shoulder to where I stood.

"See you, Bella," he said with a quick wave, and Lauren grabbed his hand. I watched from where I still stood as they walked away and Lauren tossed her shoulder length hair around and began to animatedly give Edward a minute-by-minute account of something that had taken place with one of the other cheerleaders over the summer holidays. Edward didn't even seem to be paying attention, which I was a little smug about.

"Come on, Bella." Alice was still beside me and watched me watch Edward walk away.

Alice was the only person who knew how I felt for Edward. She was the only one I trusted not to tell anyone, especially Edward. Even though they were brother and sister, I knew I could trust Alice not to tell him that secretly I'd harbored feelings of more than just being friends for a while.

I think Lauren suspected it too but she wouldn't say anything about it. Anything that Lauren said that could be deemed snarky in Edward's eyes would be met with him acting cold and distant for weeks, and I don't think Lauren knew how to talk about me without sounding malicious.

Alice and I began to walk up to first period. The bell sounded letting us know we had about five minutes to get there. Our lockers were on the way so we stopped by them quickly, dumping our textbooks into them and grabbing the things we needed for English. I shared English and Spanish with Alice and with Edward I shared Government and Biology II. There were only two other subjects that I took: Trigonometry and P.E and I sat quietly in the back row in Trigonometry. Fortunately, my P.E teacher was kind enough to not force me to actively take part in the games, so long as participated and I looked like I was trying.

We were studying 'The Catcher in the Rye' and I'd already read the book twice, but I was happy to hear we would be studying it as I didn't mind reading it again. We were nearly through reading Chapter Three when the bell rang. The teacher instructed us all to finish the chapter for homework and to summarize what had happened in the book so far. "No copying from _Spark Notes_, either," was the warning as we packed up and left the room.

I had Government next with Edward and I couldn't get there fast enough. I was the first person in the room when I arrived and I made my way to a desk that Edward and I could share.

Edward entered the room not too long after I had and found his way toward me and settled himself into the seat putting his books on top of the desk.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I responded, smiling, happy to see him. I almost laughed when I saw that he had pen marks on his face. "Did you get bored in your last class? Or could you not figure out that it's paper you're meant to write on, not your face?"

He looked confused for a second and then comprehension dawned on his face. "Is it bad?" He asked anxiously.

I giggled. "No, it's fine. Just go to the bathroom after class and you can wipe it off." There was a long line running from his ear to the corner of his lip, across his cheek. I tried to imagine how it had gotten there, envisioning him falling asleep with his pen in hand, and the tip poking into the side of his cheek.

Judging on the fact that he had trouble sleeping last night, I knew it was possible that it had taken its toll on his first period.

I sat next to Edward, listening to the teacher begin the class. He was describing the syllabus for the next semester to us. I wasn't really paying attention though; I could feel tingles of some kind running up and down my right arm as it lay next to Edward's. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed my arm, starting to draw up and down on the inside of it. "Close your eyes," he whispered.

I immediately did as he told me to, shutting my eyes tightly.

He poked my skin near where the crease of my elbow was. "Tell me when you think I get to here," he instructed me, speaking in a quiet whisper so the teacher, droning on at the front of the class, wouldn't hear.

"Okay," I said, nodding. He began to slowly trace up my arm, I kept my eyes closed and tried to keep my breathing steady as I felt the tingles of pleasure drift over my skin. It tickled a little but it felt good. The prickling shot down my arm and to the ends of my finger tips and I wondered if they were shooting out jolts of electricity, but I didn't dare look in case he would call me a cheater. _Why did he choose this game? _I wondered.

His fingers were inching up and I knew he must be near where the crease of my elbow was.

"Now," I said after a moment, wishing I did not have to tell him to stop. I opened my eyes as his fingers came to a stand still, marking the spot I'd told him to stop.

"No way," I said stunned, seeing that he'd only reached halfway up. He was nowhere near the crease at all. I lamented over the fact that I could have had his fingers on my arm for that little bit longer.

"Cool trick, eh?" he said with a wicked smile. "Now, you do me." He thrust out his arm and placed it on the desk and, closing his eyes and waiting expectantly for me to mimic him.

My fingers shook a little as I traced the warmth of his arm, moving slowly over the skin. I passed the same point he'd reached on my own arm and I watched his expression on his face. It was screwed up in uncertainty, like he was sure that I was at the point where I should stop but that he knew I wasn't quite there yet.

I eventually found the place where his elbow connected to the rest of his arm and he told me to stop. He was right, on the dot.

He stared at my fingers for a moment before looking up at me triumphantly. Edward was competitive like that. "Where'd you learn that?" I asked him curiously, but he only shrugged, not giving me any answer. I let it go, feeling a little disheartened.

He turned his attention back to the teacher, staring ahead and I slumped down in my seat, my arms crossed over my chest, hugging myself.

I sighed, wallowing on the debacle I had placed myself into. It had been five months, two weeks, and six days since I realized I was in love with my best friend, and I still hadn't worked up the courage to tell him. I wondered if I ever would.

Chapter End Notes:

**A/N**

**So, what do you do when you can't sleep at night? Why not tell me in a review, and let me know what you think of the chapter while you're at it! :P**


	2. Frogs

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight, Bella, Edward, Steph Meyer.... Nothing. I own a cat that's about it. :)**

**Authors Notes:**

**Thanks goes to Project Team Beta for the help with beta'ing this story. They help a lot.**

**Thank you to my reviewers. Your comments made my heart so you thank you thank you!**

**Chapter Two: Frogs**

Lunchtime on the first day of school was hectic as always. The cafeteria was buzzing with gossip and stories of what so-and-so did over the summer holidays. I made my way to the cafeteria line, walking slowly, and hoping to stay unnoticed. The room was already mostly full. I was usually the last one to leave the classroom, mostly trying to keep out of the way of the other students. They kept out of my way, too. I was the textbook description of a wallflower. Nobody really noticed me, except for my friends, and also with the exception of Lauren.

I reflected to the day when the animosity had first started. We were in the third grade, it was a normal day, I don't even remember what month it was, though it was probably close to summer. Lauren wore her favorite dress to school. It was lavender colored and it looked very pretty on her. I was very jealous, as I knew my parents would never be able to afford such nice clothes for me. I also knew that I would never look as pretty in such a dress.

At lunch that same day, I had chocolate milk. My mother had packed it as a surprise in my lunch pack, and I was very excited to get such a special treat. I was walking across the quad to Edward to share my chocolate milk with him, because I knew he loved the flavor too. Lauren was with a bunch of her friends in the middle of the quad, skipping with a rope. I watched them, fascinated, as I passed them on my way toward Edward. They were weaving in and out of the rope, chasing each other, and the two on either end of the rope were chanting as they ran.

Suddenly, Lauren darted out of the rope without seeing me, and barged into me, causing my milk to go flying. It landed on Lauren, who had stopped running, having found something in her way. I looked up, shocked, as my milk carton landed on the black asphalt. Lauren looked like she was about to cry as she examined her pretty dress. I was feeling pretty devastated too at losing my special treat. Then, almost as if it were in slow motion, she looked up at me, fury dancing in her eyes. Her arms flew out, and she shoved me, _hard_, causing me to fall backwards onto the tarmac. I landed fast on my bottom, my elbows scraping the black surface.

I was fairly sure that had been the moment Lauren started hating me. As we grew older, she began to use me to manipulate the way others viewed her. No one wanted to get on her bad side for fear of being ridiculed as well.

Edward and Alice were the only ones who made school bearable for me. If I didn't have them, I was sure that school would be a lot harder to bear.

I made it to the front of the line now, and I quickly gathered a lunch selection, choosing lasagna with a side of salad and a red apple. I looked around the room and found Edward and Alice sitting at their usual table with Emmett, Rosalie (Alice's best friend), and Jasper (Rosalie's twin brother, also Alice's new boyfriend).

Lauren sat at her own table, along with her clique of twelve other cheerleaders, excluding their captain — Rosalie. Rosalie had once said that she didn't like to mingle with that bunch of skinny, airheaded bimbo Barbies, although she enjoyed cheerleading and relished her status as captain.

Rosalie was definitely not someone you would want on your bad side. If there were anyone more feared than Lauren at Forks High School, it would be Rosalie. Fortunately for me, she was dating my brother, and therefore treated me with a little more respect.

I tried to ignore her at that moment though, considering she was currently making out with brother, Emmett. _Ew. _

Alice and Jasper were making googly eyes at each other from across the table. They'd only very recently started dating. Jasper was quiet and laid back, a bit of an outsider. He wasn't really involved in any extra-curricular activities.

"Bella!" Alice greeted me with wide eyes, managing to tear them away from Jasper's. I sat down cautiously, glancing warily at Alice. You never really knew with her what was going through that mind. In my own experience, it was usually interesting, though. Alice and I were close; we'd known each other practically our whole lives and knew every dirty little secret about one another.

I began rearranging my lunch, trying to decide what to eat first. I picked up my knife and fork and began to divide it in half. It was a daily ritual: I would cut my apple in half, my lasagna would be sliced down the middle and my salad would be equally divided, too. I would count the pieces of tomato, cucumber, lettuce, and would even it out until my lunch was divided completely in half. Then I would eat it. I would take one bite from each side of the tray, ensuring that there was always complete balance.

Edward considered my ritual weird, but he would always watch me with amusement. Alice chose to overlook my strange habit; and the rest of the table were too preoccupied, Rosalie and Emmett with each other, and Jasper was usually too intently watching Alice.

"Would you consider joining the high school journalism group?" Alice asked me as I poked my fork at a slice of tomato. My eyebrows shot up to my hairline and I glanced across the table at Edward to see his reaction, but he was looking across the cafeteria to where Lauren was sitting instead.

I glanced back at Alice. "Excuse me?" I choked out. Alice should honestly know better than to ask me to join an extra-curricular group. I'd done it before: tried out for sporting groups, hated chess and photography wasn't my thing either. I liked to read, but there wasn't a book club to join. I couldn't sing, so glee club was out of the question as well.

"Come on, Bella, I read your journal, you're a really good writer." It seemed impossible for my eyebrows to lift any higher, but they did; were they intending to climb into my hairline to stay?

"You _read_ my journal?" Alice obviously didn't think there was anything wrong with this as she gave a small shrug of the shoulders. I noticed Edward's head turn out of the corner of my eye to watch our interaction.

"Honestly Bella, there was _nothing_ in there I didn't _already_ know." Alice liked to emphasize words with a tilt of her head on particular words. I felt my cheeks flame up, as I knew the things she'd already read.

"You think I should join the journalism group based on the stupid stuff I write in my journal? Which I thought was _private _by the way." It was hard to stay angry with Alice. She always had this cheerful and knowing look on her face as though she knew whatever she was saying was right.

"I think you should give it a go," Alice said with a small shrug, disregarding my previous comment. I rolled my eyes internally, choosing to ignore Alice, and started to pay attention to my food. Edward was staring at me now; I could feel his gaze on my flamed cheeks.

"You keep a journal?" he asked me with surprise. My cheeks became impossibly redder with his discovery, and I shot Alice a pointed glare. I'd been writing since the day I'd learned to script my name and had used crayons to write my stories on butcher paper from an extremely young age. However, I'd only very recently kept a journal, before I'd admitted my feelings for Edward to Alice; I had no other way of venting my frustration. Alice had supposedly figured out that I was in love with her brother all by herself. She had said that it was obvious, but now I had my doubts. It was more probable that Alice had snooped in my journal and discovered it that way.

I scowled at my lunch, eating the rest of it in silence. I listened to the rest of the table talk about other things: football, Emmett and Edward's last hunting trip, and Alice and Rosalie's plan to go shopping in Seattle soon.

The bell rang eventually and I stood, scraping the chair back. I picked up my empty tray and dropped it off with the collection of other dirty trays. Edward had gone over to see Lauren briefly before the next class was due to start, and I waited for him as we both had biology together next. I tried not to look as Lauren threw her arms around Edward's neck in a dramatic farewell. My stomach churned from the contents of my lunch as Lauren attempted a make-out session in front of the remaining student body.

"Move along, you two," a teacher called out to them and Edward pulled away from a disgruntled Lauren.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked me in a low voice as we walked together to the science labs.

"Yeah," I responded, my eyes trained on the floor. He put his arm around me and squeezed me to his side in a brief, one-armed hug. With his touch, my stomach felt like it was bombarded with butterflies.

We arrived at the biology classroom, and I stepped over Mike Newton, who was spread out on the floor for some reason. Mr Banner had not yet arrived, and the class was in its usual, after-lunch disorder and chaos.

We sat quietly at our table while we waited for Mr Banner. "Cullen!" Tyler Crowley called across the room. Edward glanced up and raised an eyebrow. Tyler was on the football team and happened to be a huge asshole.

He made his way across the classroom until he was standing before our lab table. "You going to be taking Lauren to that dance thing this term? Because, if you're not, then…" he allowed his sentence to trail off suggestively.

"Is she my girlfriend?" Edward asked Tyler coolly. Edward never really got defensive or territorial over Lauren when jerks like Tyler tried to hit on her. I admired the way he seemed so confident that they would never try anything with her, even though it was evident that Tyler wanted to.

"Uh, yeah… I guess she is, man," The grin on Tyler's face dropped and he shuffled away. At that moment Mr Banner entered the room, hurriedly.

"Take your seats people." He emptied his hands of its contents onto his desk and started waving the remaining people who were dawdling to their desks to hurry up. "I've got an exciting project for you today in celebration of your first day back."

I turned my attention back to Edward as Mr Banner began to distribute today's assignment. "Why do they do that?" I asked him, referring to Tyler's attempt at winning a date with Lauren. I never heard his reply, though, as Mr Banner issued us a preserved frog along with dissecting tools.

"Uh oh," Edward said. He watched as my face slowly turned a nice shade of green. I had a bit of an irrational fear of frogs stemming from a childhood incident involving Emmett. He quickly moved the offending frog out of my line of vision, but it was too late. I could feel my stomach beginning to turn again and I rushed from my seat and out the classroom door, thankfully not tripping over anything on my way out.

The bathroom wasn't too far away from the science labs. I found it in time and emptied the contents of my lunch into the bowl of the toilet. After a few minutes I felt my stomach finally settle. I stood to my feet, swaying slightly, still feeling a little woozy, and made my way to the mirror across from the toilet stalls. I turned the stainless steel tap and gripped the sides of the vanity sink and bent my head, staring as the water rushed from the faucet.

I heard a knock on the door of the girl's bathroom and Edward's worried voice, muffled by the width of wood barring his entry. "Bella, are you okay?" I quickly splashed some water to cool my face down and wiped my nose and mouth clear.

Opening the door to the bathroom, I found Edward bearing down on me. "Hey," I rasped a little, my throat tight and feeling like it had been grated.

"They should have a disclaimer for classes like those," Edward grumbled as he stood aside for me, letting me pass. "Warning: If you have an objection to frog guts, it is advisable that you skip this class."

"Edward," I warned. The mention of frog guts was making me woozy again.

"Sorry," he apologized with a wry smile. "Remind me again, why do you hate them?" He knew the reason but loved to hear me tell the story.

I sighed and rolled my eyes as we began to traipse down the hallway. It was drizzling outside; this morning's sunshine had long dispersed.

"When I was four, Emmett found a dead frog, told me that it was my Barbie princess, that she'd been turned into a frog, and that I had to kiss her to bring her back. He then forced the frog in my face and made me kiss it.

"Ever since then, he's been amused by my fear of frogs and tries to scare me with them. One time, he made me a smoothie and I drank it all, told him it was delicious, and then he told me that he'd blended three frogs in it." Of course, he hadn't really, but the idea of it had brought the contents of my smoothie up anyway.

Edward was trying extremely hard not to laugh as I related Emmett's frog pranks. We made our way outside and across the quad to where the cars were parked. Edward found a log and sat down on it. The rain was only a mere drizzle, and it was warm enough that it wasn't uncomfortable, so I sat down with him.

"Remember that time we went camping and he found one and put it in your sleeping bag?" he asked me, mirth dancing in his eyes. "That was pretty funny."

"Oh, yeah, freaking hilarious." I muttered sarcastically. Thankfully, I was beginning to feel much better now. Edward always had a way of making me feel calmer, even if I was recounting moments of my childhood that I would rather not remember.

"Hey," Edward spoke once he'd finished sniggering. "I just remembered that we're going to Seattle for the weekend. Dad wants to go to mass on Sunday, and Alice wants to go shopping with Rosalie. Do you want to come?"

Every now and then, I was invited to go with the Cullens to Seattle on their monthly trips to Washington's biggest city. They had a large three-bedroom apartment there. The lounge area was so large that the kids would generally all camp in there for the night. Lauren never went with them, as Edward was the only member of the group that could stand her.

"Sounds good, but Emmett's got some motorbike thing this weekend. I don't think he'll come."

"Yeah, I know." Edward rolled his eyes. "It's so lame." I laughed knowing Emmett would be mortally offended if he'd ever heard his friend calling his new hobby _lame._

We continued to sit together, occasionally making a comment about something, but mostly sitting in companionable silence. We were gradually getting wet as the light drizzle became slightly heavier. This wasn't something I was used to, skipping class like this. I wondered if I could get out of going to P.E too, as it was my most detested class.

Maybe I would be able to get Charlie to write me a sick note. I didn't particularly fancy attending when more than half of my biology class was in my P.E class as well.

"Look at that," I said with a smile. "First day back and we're skipping class." I glanced sideways at Edward to see his reaction. He was smiling humorously.

"Watch me, Bellie," he said with a lopsided grin that made my stomach flop around. "I'll have you transformed into a fantastic rebel."

"I bet the Chief of Police would love that. You'll lose favor with him, that's for sure, and don't call me Bellie," I mumbled, retorting with an eye roll.

"Never, your dad _adores _me."

"Pfft! You wish." I shoved him playfully in the shoulder with my own. The bell rang, cutting our squabbling off. I could hear it resonate from across the wide space between us and the school, but we remained seated and watched the student population spill out, making their way to their next class.

"What have you got for your next period?" I asked Edward, not sure of his new schedule since it had changed from last year.

"Spanish," he said with disinterest. "You?"

I grimaced and gestured across the quad to the gymnasium. "Gym."

"Hmm… You probably shouldn't participate after what happened in biology," he murmured, glancing sideways, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smirk. "Come on Rebel, let's get out of here."

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	3. Captured My Soul

**A/N Thanks goes to Project Team Beta for the help with this chapter and the two lovely ladies Ragna and bonnysammy for their wise words and gentle critique. Without them, this would defintely be a lot crapper. **

**Thank you for those who took the time to review, your kindness means so much to me. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Once you're done, let me know what you think by reviewing! **

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**Chapter Three**

**Captured My Soul**

The rest of the week passed uneventful enough. Lauren stayed out my hair in the meantime. On one occasion, Edward ate lunch with her at a table separate from their respective groups. However, I noticed that they spent most of the lunch period in silence and it was not the comfortable type. I felt bad for Edward when it came to Lauren Mallory. She was beautiful and she could be nice when she wanted to be, or when it mattered, but I knew that he could do better. Not necessarily by being with me instead but any other girl would be better, than Lauren in my opinion.

After skipping the last two periods of school on our first day, Edward and I went home and hung out in his lounge room. We talked and watched some TV but as soon as the bell for the last period would have rung, Edward's phone buzzed. Lauren was demanding to know where he was and why he wasn't at school. When he told her that he was with me, I winced, knowing that this would upset her. Turns out I was right.

That first week back at school, Lauren found out about my frog-dissecting incident and nicknamed me 'Spewella'. But I reasoned that there had to be good things to say about her. She really couldn't be the evil bitch she appeared to be. I determined that it was probably my jealousy because she had what I most wanted and could probably never have.

The most people knew that there were problems at home for her. Being in a small town like Forks meant that the whole town knew about everything about everyone. Lauren's mother was an alcoholic and her father had disappeared before she even was born. Mrs Mallory constantly put pressure on Lauren to be the best. She forced her into a modelling contract the summer before she turned thirteen, but despite all that, Lauren strived for high scores on her tests and was involved in almost as many extra-curricular activities as Alice.

Saturday morning dawned and I got up early, the sun only barely risen. Charlie had planned a fishing trip with some of his friends and was already gone for the day. I'd told him about my plans to go to Seattle with the Cullens and he'd happily agreed.

"Don't get up to any trouble," he'd said.

So here I was, the second car back in the convoy of cars that were screaming down the 101. Carlisle and Esme were somewhere behind us, choosing to travel at a more legal speed. Alice, Jasper and Rosalie were a few car lengths ahead of us. Our luggage was in the back seat of his car and it didn't pass my notice that Edward had brought his camera along with him.

One of Edward's interests, besides camping, football, and Lauren, was photography; he was really good at it. I'd encouraged him to submit his art in some magazines or photography galleries but he'd laughed and told me that his photos weren't _good enough_ for that. He'd also told me that he liked to take photos of things because he enjoyed it, not because he wanted to show them off.

After that conversation, whenever I tried to bring it up again he just usually laugh at my suggestions, scowl or change the subject.

"So, what do you want to do in Seattle?" Edward asked, breaking me out from my thoughts. He turned the dial of the volume on the radio down a touch, having had it blare out some rather alternative music for the past hour of driving - not that I minded; some of the songs he listened to were rather good.

"Uh… Well, I was thinking of hitting a book store and maybe updating my collection," I admitted. I glanced sideways at Edward to perceive his reaction.

"Sounds good," he said after a beat. Edward's brow furrowed as though he were really trying to focus on the road. Or else, thinking hard on something else entirely. I turned my gaze back to the road, unsure of what to say.

After a few moments of silence he still hadn't turned the volume back up on the radio dial, so I concluded that something was wrong. I glanced back at Edward, whose brow was still furrowed. Not in concentration, rather frustration. He was annoyed. I gulped. Had I said something wrong? I began to wring my hands in my lap, completely confused as to what had just happened. I ran over what I'd just said. _I was thinking of hitting a bookstore and maybe updating my collection._ What was wrong with that?

"What do you want to do?" I finally asked him, hating the tension that I felt creep up on us and detesting the silence.

"I don't really mind actually, though I brought my camera so some I might take some pictures.

There's a good park near the apartment. Maybe you can be my model? His face relaxed and he glanced quickly at me, a smile stretching over his face. My body, which I had not noticed was tense, relaxed infinitely, and I smiled at the thought of being _his _model. But as Edward looked back at the road, his hands stiffened on the steering wheel once more, and my smile dropped.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, unable to stand his silent suffering.

His eyebrows shot up and he gaped a little, as he looked sideways at me again. Then he rolled his eyes. "You're too damn observant sometimes, Bella." But then he chuckled. "Don't worry; I'm not upset with you, not at all. I just have something on my mind that's bothering me."

I nodded; relieved to hear I wasn't the cause for his concerns, but curious and worried nonetheless. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him.

Edward shook his head. "No, not now, maybe later," he said, eyes still fixed on the road. I wondered if he was worried about the football season coming up. Or, perhaps if he were struggling in a class. Maybe I could help him with that. Or had something come up with his family, was that the real reason why we were going to Seattle? Why the pretence though?

Different scenarios floated through my mind as to why Edward was acting this way. He never turned the dial back up, so we remained sitting in silence, and Edward remained tense and uneasy for the rest of the trip.

*~*~*

"Bella." A voice startled me from slumber and I jolted my head forward, my shoulders jerking out from the back of Edward's leather seat. "We're here," he said, the car had come to a stop. Edward was standing over me and I realised that I'd fallen asleep. I'd spent the last hour and a half of the trip in the world of siesta land, leaving Edward alone with his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry Edward, I must have dozed off," I muttered blinking my drowsiness away. I slipped out of the seatbelt and climbed out of the car.

"That's okay," he said and gave a smile and helped me out of my seat. "I'll get your baggage for you."

I turned toward the large apartment building. Edward had parked on the street for the time being and had popped the trunk of his car open. "Bella!" Alice called from the entryway of the from the front of the building.

She'd arrived a few minutes before us, her yellow Porsche already parked underground, and with her were not one, but three bags of luggage. I rolled my eyes internally and turned back to Edward. "I'll go help Alice with hers."

"This weekend is going to be _so _fun, Bella. You _have _to come shopping with me and Rose." Alice said as I grabbed one of her bags and lugged it inside.

"What the hell do you have in these bags, Alice? Are you planning on spending the weekend or the year?"

She pouted at me but followed me in lugging her other two bags in with her. "You never know who you'll meet," she said with a disapproving glance.

I rolled my eyes. "Alice, you already _have _Jasper."

"I know, and I want to make a good impression for him."

I followed her inside the building and towards the elevator. Edward followed behind me with his bag and mine, which were limited to two backpacks, one for each of us. Apparently, Alice couldn't take a leaf from one of our books.

It didn't take too long for Alice to pounce on us once we were all settled. "Shopping guys!" She stood in front of Edward and me as we kicked back on the couch.

"Alice," Esme called from the kitchen in what sounded like a disapproving tone. "Why don't we have some lunch first?"

We'd left Forks relatively early that morning and had arrived in Seattle just past noon. The drive was supposed to be three and half-hours but Edward and Alice had managed to drive it in just two hours and forty five minutes with Carlisle and Esme running twenty minutes behind us.

Esme had already arranged for a service to provide us with enough food to last the weekend and was now beginning to prepare lunch for everyone.

"Sounds good, Mom!" Edward called from the lounge with an extremely grateful tone to his voice. Esme smiled from her position in the kitchen.

Alice huffed in frustration, impatient to start her shopping spree. "Where's Rosalie?" I asked Alice curiously.

Alice jutted her thumb over her shoulder to one of the bedrooms. "She's on the phone with Emmett."

"Jasper?" I prompted.

"Here." Jasper walked out of the second bedroom down the hallway and Alice squealed, excitedly leaping at him. Apparently, Jasper was fastidious about travelling. Alice had admitted to me about how tidy, clean and organised Jasper could be. So, I assumed that Jasper had ensured that his luggage was all packed away in the closet, even though we were only staying overnight.

"Lunch is ready. Come and help yourselves," Esme called from the kitchen. She'd put out some bowls with a variety of sandwich fillings and condiments for us to make our own sandwiches. Edward gestured for me to go first, and I quickly made myself a ham and cheese sandwich before slicing the finished product into two halves.

Eventually, Rosalie joined us and we sat around the dining table off the side of the kitchen, trying to decide what we all wanted to do for the afternoon.

Alice and Rosalie wanted to go shoe and clothes shopping and Jasper had some recently released video games he wanted to look at. Edward wasn't completely against joining Jasper. So it was settled, and Edward and I agreed to tag along with them.

I grabbed my wallet and Edward grabbed his camera. He carried it in a shoulder strap bag and it bumped against his hip as he walked. The mall was in walking distance of the apartment, as were most things - the Cullen's apartment was quite central.

We wandered behind Rosalie and Alice as they drifted from shop to shop, not really seeming as though they had any particular destination. They would see a shop and they'd go in. Then they'd come out with another bag to add to their growing collection.

As Rosalie and Alice shopped, Edward and I, and occasionally Jasper, would mess around. In one department store, we found a bunch of extra large sunglasses and Edward took delight in taking many photos of me trying each of the outrageous sunglasses on. I also found him a bright pair of yellow pyjamas, which I insisted he try on over his clothes. Then I grabbed Edward's camera and snapped a few photos.

This trend grew tiresome though and Edward and I were now collectively sighing, rolling our eyes at each other and groaning while Alice squealed exuberantly over the two _hundredth _shoeshop. We'd already, very briefly visited the game store that Jasper had been so intent on seeing, where he'd made a few purchases.

"Alright, that's it." I put my foot down. "I swear to God, Alice, if you drag us into another shoe shop, I will steal all your purchases and throw them in the trash. I swear to God, I will do it." Alice narrowed her eyes at me, realising that I wasn't going to go into another shop with her that weekend. She huffed and rolled her eyes. The bags that she carried in both arms swayed as she raised and dropped her shoulders in exaggerated exasperation.

"Fine, go do your own thing; we'll meet you back at the house." I smiled triumphantly at Edward and he grinned back. "Come on Jazz, Rose. We don't need them anyway."

"Actually, Alice, I think I'm going to bail too," Jasper said, apology written in his eyes.

"Et tu, Brute?" Alice looked wide-eyed; she no longer had her beloved to help her carry her bags. Jasper looked confused but I snorted humorously.

"Oh God, Alice. Stop being such a drama queen," I told her. "We've been here for two hours already. Surely that's enough shopping for one day?" Alice looked mortified at my words as though I had blasphemed, which she, I didn't doubt for a second, probably thought I had.

"Actually, Alice," Rosalie said, struggling to keep hold of the many bags she also carried. "I want to get back to the apartment. Besides the shops will be closing soon anyway."

So that was final. Alice no longer had extra hands to help her carry her baggage. The shops were closing and all her shopping buddies were abandoning her. We won.

As we traipsed back to the apartment, I sidled up beside Edward. "Want to go to the park now?"

He nodded his head enthusiastically and we slipped away from the group as we were passing the park. I noticed Alice looking over her shoulder as she observed us trying to sneak away. I gestured to Edward and the park and she nodded her head, a devious smile crossing her lips. I rolled my eyes knowing what she was obviously thinking about her brother and me.

We found a tree to shade us from the sun and sat beneath it. The ground was fortunately not too damp, as the day had been sunny and had dried up any recent rainfall.

Lying down on the grass, my hair fanned out underneath me creating a cushion for my head. He rested his back against the trunk of the tree and we watched quietly for a bit as two kids tried to fly a kite. "So, you going to tell me what's wrong?" I asked from my position on the grass. While Edward had seemed happy and content that afternoon taking photos of us being foolish in the department stores, there still seemed to be something wrong going on beneath his cheerful façade. I'd known Edward my whole life and knew him better then the back of my hand.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said after a pause. He sighed and fanned his fingers through my hair, running them through the locks. "I don't know how to put this." He told me quietly. I patiently waited, knowing he'd get there eventually.

"It's Lauren," he said finally. My stomach clenched at the mention of her. What had she done this time? "She said some things to me yesterday."

My brow furrowed as I tried to contemplate what she might have said, but nothing came to mind. I just couldn't picture Edward and her having a conversation about anything deep or meaningful, even though I was sure they did occasionally talk about such things.

Edward continued to stroke through my hair, gently working through some of the knots he discovered as his fingers found them. "She told me that she didn't want me to be friends with you anymore."

"Oh!" I sat up suddenly, I felt my whole body turn cold. My heart started to beat erratically in my chest and I could feel my cheeks flame, a mixture of embarrassment, anger, hurt, and confusion.

My sudden movement had pushed his hand from my hair and it fell limply to the ground. I turned my body to stare into Edward's eyes. He looked a little sad and frustrated. I wondered why he was doing this to me, bringing me with him to Seattle for the weekend with his family. Was this a _goodbye_ weekend?

_Let's hang out this weekend, have fun, act as though everything is normal, and then I'll drop this big bombshell on you, tell you we can't be friends and then expect everything to be cool. _

I was furious now; I stood angrily to my feet.

"Wait, Bella," he demanded, he looked up at me and scrambled to his feet as well.

"Wait? For what, Edward?" My heart continued to thump and the blood rushed from my head. I could feel tears springing to my eyes so I clenched them tight. I tried willing the tears to go away but the action only encouraged them to spill out, flooding my cheeks. "For you to break my heart, for you to tell me you'd rather be with that-" I couldn't finish that sentence. I couldn't insult someone that Edward cared for so much.

"Lauren," I finished. "Instead of having our friendship?" I laughed on the inside, bitter at myself. Of course he would. It was meant to be. Childhood friendship didn't last forever. People grew apart; they became different to how they'd been as children. It was a miracle that Edward and I had remained so close over the past few years. He and I were completely different people. I wasn't made for someone like him. Guys like Edward deserved beautiful, smart, funny women to be with. I was kidding myself. Who was I to stand in the way of love?

I turned to leave, to go back to the apartment, to beg Alice to take me home today. She would understand but he grasped my hand before I could run. "Wait! Please, Bella."

My head remained turned away, I refused to let him see my tears but I stopped to wait for him to finish what I knew he was already going to say.

_Sorry. _Or something else that was supposed to help heal my heartbreak.

"I'm going to tell her no, and if she objects, I'll end things with her," he spoke quietly and remained clutching my hand in his own. I slowly turned my head back to his, unable to believe what he was saying.

"Really?" I asked him, my heart aching for his promise.

He looked incredibly crestfallen as he nodded and I felt a deep ache in my chest for him. Lauren must really mean a lot to him. "You don't have to," I told him, feeling guilty for being the cause of his heartbreak. He pulled me to his chest and I willingly allowed myself to let him comfort me. Edward found his own reassurance when he comforted others.

"Bella," he spoke into my hair as I pressed against his chest. "I'm not going to let anyone try and get in the way of our friendship. What we have together is my most treasured thing. Sure, I like Lauren. She's good looking and all but she has nothing on you. I would choose you over her any day of the week." Tears welled up in my eyes again at his words. I honestly had never thought he'd felt that way about me. Sure, they weren't words of undying love but it was good enough for me. I'd never felt as loved by Edward in my entire life than I did at that moment.

"I just don't know what to say to her." Edward said and I pulled away from his embrace, we sat back down on the grass. I wiped the remainder of my tears away with the back of my hand. We resumed our previous positions, and Edward's hands returned to my hair. I pictured Lauren, furious and upset when she found out that Edward was dumping her and tried really hard to stop the smile that crept over my lips. I was evil. I truly was.

"I'm sorry, Edward. I'm not really an expert at dumping people," I told him.

He gave me a wry smile, obviously knowing I'd never even dated anyone. "It's okay, Bella. I'll figure it out." He pulled his camera out and unscrewed the lens caps. He attached the lens to the front of the camera and flicked the on the switch. He took a few moments to set up his camera and I continued to watch him from my position, looking up at him from the ground. He was fiddling around with some of the settings and eventually brought it to his eye to take a few candid shots of the kids running around. They had finally managed to get their kite off the ground.

After a moment of Edward clicking away, and me watching him, he paused and lowered the camera away from his eye. "You know, you said you'd model for me," he reminded me. The heat of our brief argument from before had dissipated but I knew the results of crying wouldn't make me attractive.

I pouted a little, but pushed myself up from the ground to a sitting position. "I'm all splotchy," I complained. Edward laughed.

"You look beautiful, I promise." My eyes widened at his profession. I felt my stomach flare up with little butterflies, my cheeks inflame with heat and I lowered my eyes. A small smile crossed my lips.

"Thank you," I said quietly, still embarrassed.

He shifted around to face me, kneeling on the ground, one leg propped up. "Hold that pose," he said and I froze trying to allow Edward to take the perfect shot. He lifted his camera to his eye and after a moment, the shutter closed.

"You're stealing my soul," I muttered under my breath. Edward laughed. He turned the camera around to show me the picture he'd captured and I gasped. He'd modified the settings enough to capture a picture of me that was rather flattering. "How'd you do that?" I asked him, perplexed.

"Well, I aimed my camera at your face, and then I pressed this button here." He pointed out the capture button.

I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm but my lips twitched in amusement.

"I told you that you were beautiful," he said and rested the camera down on the ground. "And I'm sorry… about before."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I overreacted. I just couldn't bear it if you stopped being my friend."

"I know," he said and I knew he felt the same way.

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A/N Still with me? Have you ever had a photo taken of you that didn't look ANYTHING like you??

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Love you all!


	4. Dirty Words

**Authors Note: **

**Thank you all to the those who took the time to leave me a review.**

**Big thanks to my lovely beta's Ragna and Dani from Project Team Beta. Their time and effort is very much appreciated by me and they do such a great job at editing them quickly. **

**Some notes about the chapter: There is a tiny bit of a lemon in this chapter so if you are adverse to that kind of thing in stories then maybe this isn't for you as I'm fairly sure they will be included later on, though not 100% sure. I will have to see where it goes. **

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**Chapter Four**

**Dirty Words**

It was beginning to get dark by the time Edward and I decided to head back to his parent's apartment. We had spent a few hours lazing in the sun, talking about school. Edward tried to convince me that maybe I should join the school paper like Alice had suggested earlier that week. I retorted by telling him he should submit his photos.

Esme usually requested that we all be present for meal times and dinner was generally around seven-thirty so we had about half an hour to stroll back casually. I thankfully calmed down after Edward's bombshell and used the time to reflect while Edward took snaps of me and of some of the children amusing themselves in the playground.

We talked about a lot of things, he wanted to know about my writing. Ever since Alice had mentioned it on the first day of school, he'd been curious about it. In what style did I write my poetry? What kind of poetry? What about prose, did I rhyme? Did I write stories? What kind of stories? Adventure? Romance or mystery? And even though he was joking, he managed to embarrass me when he asked if I wrote erotica. I scoffed and shoved him hard and he fell backwards onto the grass.

"Ooh, did I touch a nerve, Bella?" He chuckled and pulled himself back up to a sitting position.

I rolled my eyes. "So juvenile,"

We continued talking and joking around with each other, the playful banter between us was usual. We talked about the kids on the playground, remembering back to when we were kids ourselves.

"I'm so glad you grew out of your hair-pulling phase," I told Edward; he'd done that a lot, he would pull on my hair whenever I stopped giving him my attention.

"You loved it, admit it." I didn't, I hated it, I stuck my tongue out at him.

As we walked back to the apartment, He asked me what I thought of Rosalie. I told him how she intimidated me quite a lot; she was a new friend to me, if you could call her that. I'd always known Rosalie but didn't have much to do with her until she started dating Emmett. Alice and she had also only become close in the past year as well and they didn't really involve me in their activities when they were together. Though I was sure it was because Alice knew I'd never be interested in hours of shopping, talking about clothes, shoes, and make-up.

"She's a little self-absorbed, vain… She can be mean, but she can be nice too, I guess. I've seen her make some of her cheerleaders cry when they're not getting a routine right, but the next moment she'll be standing up for one of the weaker links in her squad when someone else puts them down. I'd like to get to know her better but I really don't know how," I told him, truly meaning every word I said.

"I guess," Edward spoke from my side. "The best way to become friendly with her is to find something you have in common, speak up as well; she appreciates someone who can speak their mind. Don't be afraid. She admires someone who has self-confidence." I nodded at his advice, what he was telling me to do was seemingly impossible. I had nothing in common with Rosalie Hale; she was a gorgeous, witty cheerleader, and had entirely different interests to me. As well as that, I wasn't the kind of person to just speak up; I was too shy for that and didn't have much self-confidence to speak of.

As if reading my mind, I felt him place a hand on my shoulder as we walked side-by-side. "You can do it; you're much better at talking to people than you think."

I smiled to myself; I appreciated Edward's encouragement, even if I knew he was lying. Today had been okay. We'd all gone shopping together and Rosalie had smiled at me when I complimented her choice in shoes. She wasn't outgoing like Alice was, and I noticed that she only ever really spoke when she needed to. Alice felt compelled to keep a running commentary a lot of the time, and it was pretty incredible to watch her do a number of things at once and listen to her explain something at the same time. She was gifted and I was in awe.

Alice was also extremely different to Edward, but this could be easily explained by the fact that Edward was adopted. He'd found this out a little after he'd turned nine and his parents had explained the situation. His mother and father had been close friends to his biological parents before Edward was born; they'd died four months after Edward's mother had given birth to him. Esme and Carlisle had been nominated as godparents to Edward, and they'd not hesitated to take the young babe into their care.

Esme, at the time of the tragedy, was already eight months pregnant with Alice, and had given birth not too long after Edward had joined their family.

Edward had been distraught to learn that his real parents had been killed. He had come to me, and it had been the first time I'd ever seen him cry. He seemed to accept that Esme and Carlisle were his real parents though, even if they weren't biologically. His hair color was different, and his eyes were green while theirs were respectively, blue and brown. He told me secretly, that same day that he'd thought he'd always known. I kissed his cheek and hugged him, and told him it would be okay, that he was still loved. It made me wonder what my life would be like without Edward in it. If his parents hadn't died, he wouldn't be living next door to me. He'd probably be living in a completely different state, as he'd been born in Chicago, and I would have never known him. The thought made my chest hurt.

Edward's arm snaked around my shoulders, and he hugged me to his side, pulling me from my thoughts. We'd reached the apartment now and Edward was apologizing again for our earlier conversation. "Don't worry about it, Edward," I said, once more. He must have said sorry a million times already for my tears but now I just felt embarrassed.

"Come on," I insisted, tugging on his shirt and moving in the direction of the building. "Dinner's probably ready and your mom will be mad if we're late." We weren't late though, but she was placing the last touches to the extravagant feast that she'd most likely spent all afternoon preparing.

"Roast pork, yum!" Edward cheered from the doorway and Alice, Rosalie and Jasper looked up from a puzzle they were finishing. Their hair was damp as though they'd all had showers but the smell of chlorine suggested otherwise.

"About time you two showed up," Jasper greeted us. Rosalie raised an eyebrow and Alice grinned mischievously.

"Did you get the spa going?" Edward asked them, noticing the smell as well. On the Cullens large porch was a spa fit for six to eight people, though they had an even larger one back home in Forks.

"Yeah, we can go back in after dinner," Alice suggested.

"That sounds nice, kids," Esme said from the kitchen bench. "Carlisle and I will be going to a show after dinner, so you'll have to entertain each other.

"I'm sure they won't have much difficulty with that," Carlisle said, coming out from his office. He closed the door and sniffed the air. "Esme, that smells delectable." He walked across the room to his wife, kissed her, and I looked away, embarrassed by their intimacy.

"Edward?" Esme asked. "Could you set the table?"

Soon enough, we were all crowded around the table and helping ourselves to pork with crackling, vegetables and gravy. The table was alive with conversation. The plan for tomorrow was to go to mass in the morning and then Alice and Rosalie had some last minute shopping plans before they would head back to Forks.

Carlisle and Esme left fairly quickly after dinner. Their show was at nine, and after Esme had quickly spruced herself up, they were out the door. Alice turned away from the door after it had clicked closed and grinned at us. In typical Alice fashion she had organized the evening for us, there were a few movies and in one of her bags, she'd packed enough alcohol to put frat boys to shame.

"Good God, Alice," Edward looked impressed. "You managed to sneak all this past Mom and Dad?"

She nodded smugly. "Let's have some fun."

~*~*~

We were sitting in a circle in the hot tub; Jasper was on my left, Rosalie on my right, while Edward and Alice sat across from me. Alice had suggested we played a game and Rosalie had quickly agreed. They'd made a few suggestions and then had finally settled on a game called 'never have I ever.'

"The rules are simple, Bella," Alice told me. "Someone will say something that they've never done but if anyone else has ever done it then they have to take a sip from their drinks." I looked down at the bottle I grasped in my hand. It was lemon vodka and it tasted pretty good. I was surprised because the only other alcohol I'd tasted in my life was beer and I disliked the bitterness of the brown liquid.

I hadn't brought any bathing suits with me, but Alice had come prepared with more than one swimwear outfits. She'd happily loaned me a pair when I told her that I didn't have anything to wear into the spa.

"Let's start easy," Rosalie said with a chuckle. "Never have I ever…" she thought quickly. " Skipped on the first day of school," she smirked a little as Edward and I took a sip from our bottles. Alice and Jasper laughed.

We went around in a circle, Alice was next. "Never have I ever, eaten a worm." Edward half-glared at her and took a sip. And now it was his turn.

"Never have I ever… fooled around in a sibling's room," Alice blushed but both she and Rosalie took a sip. Both Edward and Jasper cried out in indignation and Edward shoved Jasper who was sitting next to him.

"Never have I ever," Jasper started, "worn clothes to hide a hickey." Rosalie sipped.

My turn and I blushed pink; I'd been trying hard to think of something. "Never have I ever… bought condoms." I said self-conscious. Everyone but me took a sip and I had to laugh.

Rosalie again, "Never have I ever had my parents ask if I were a virgin." I sipped; Renee had asked me if I'd been sexually active when I was fourteen, much to my embarrassment. Alice and Jasper also took a sip as they shared a private smile.

"Never have I ever… sneaked grog into school." Alice said and smirked as Edward and I sipped, and so did Jasper. "That's so bad you guys!" She laughed. I smiled; I'd known this already and had even sat with them a few times as they drank behind the music rooms. Emmett was usually included with them but I'd never taken part before.

"Never have I ever… had an argument about what 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' was actually about." Edward gave me a pointed look; I rolled my eyes and took a sip.

Jasper: "Played strip poker?" Jasper asked and everyone but Rosalie and I sipped.

It was my turn again and I tried to think quickly of something. "Never have I ever… used someone else's toothbrush?" Alice giggled and sipped.

"Had sex in the back of the car." Rosalie asked with a small smile as she looked around the circle. My eyebrows shot up as everyone but Rosalie and I drank. Rosalie wrinkled her nose in distaste, apparently not finding the act to be all that pleasant.

Alice's go next and she tilted her head back to think. "Never have I ever… sunbathed partially, or actually naked," I giggled and took a sip along with Alice and Rosalie, Alice had convinced me to lie, front down topless on a beach trip one summer when we went to California for a vacation. I noticed that Edward's eyes bulged at my silent revelation.

The game heated up from there, questions relating to parties, drinking, sex and other scandalous deeds cropped up and eventually my drink began to become neglected. I was beginning to feel extremely inexperienced. Obviously, a lot of things happened at the parties I refused to attend. Edward noticed my lack of participation and suggested we change the game.

Rosalie glanced at me and smirked, she'd noticed my mostly full drink, and compared to the nearly empty bottles the others carried. "Let's teach you a new game, Bella," she smiled. I smiled tentatively back at her. "Everyone else familiar with 'my cock or pussy?" I flushed pink but everyone else laughed. Edward shot me a pitying smile.

Rosalie turned back to me. "Basically, guys have to say 'my cock', and girls have to say 'my pussy'. You go around in a circle and start at the beginning of the alphabet. For example, I'll say my pussy is amazing, Alice will say her pussy is angry. It will go around like that until someone pauses trying to think of a word, or if they laugh when it's their turn. They then have to sip and we'll start at the next letter." She tilted her head to the side and gave me a challenging look. I took a deep breath trying to calm my blazing cheeks. I remembered what Edward told me this afternoon about not being afraid or shy. She was testing me. I nodded my head slowly, understanding the game completely.

"You start Bella," she offered and my cheeks flamed back up. She was being nice, offering for me to go first so that I could take the time to get ready.

"My p-pussy is awesome," I said trying to keep my expression as neutral as possible, and Rosalie nodded in approval.

"My pussy is artistic," she said.

"My pussy is altered," Alice smirked.

I glanced at Edward he tilted his head as he deadpanned. "My cock is awe-inspiring."

Jasper: "My cock is alarming."

My turn and I was prepared. "My pussy is antagonized."

"My pussy is affronted," Rosalie cackled.

"My pussy is-" Alice paused, sighed and took a sip. The group cheered and I grinned across at Alice.

Edward grinned. "My cock is big." I blushed and looked away mortified.

Jasper made a noise of contempt. "My cock is boisterous."

My turn, I was still embarrassed but I managed. "My pussy is beautiful…" They laughed at my embarrassment and I found it hard to not laugh with them but soon they continued the circle. Blessed, biting, brilliant… Jasper faltered. He sipped.

My turn again… Crazy, careful, cherished, collected, cunning, cool, calm, chosen… Edward sipped.

Dangerous, delightful, daring, dicked, daunting, devoted.

I was getting more confident now as I spoke up, my cheeks were still a little heated but I assumed that may be more from the levels of alcohol flowing through my system, more than my levels of embarrassment. I was having fun as well; Rosalie would smile at me in encouragement when I spoke without stuttering or giggling. Her support was making this easier for me as well.

"My pussy is delirious," I slurred with a giggle, a little more than tipsy, having nearly finished three bottles of lemon vodka.

"You laughed!" Edward accused me and I rolled my eyes taking a sip of my drink, he smirked.

We continued through the alphabet, getting faster and faster, the slight pause or giggle was punishable by a swallow. The heat of the tub's water was causing the alcohol to go straight to our heads. We laughed and snorted at each other's descriptions, Jasper's was excited and fat, and Edward's cock was god-like and hard. Alice said her pussy was illustrious and jazzy; Rosalie's was luxuriant and momentous. I managed to come up with a few good ones too, quaint, stimulating, tight, ubiquitous and and then at last we reached z.

Zealous was Alice's. Zeus-like was Edward's. Zapped from Jasper. Zaftig was mine and Rosalie drank. Having gone the entire game without having to take one sip, we all shouted our approval, having finally defeated her. She downed the rest of her drink. "Zesty," she said with a flourish and winked at me.

It was a lot quieter now that Edward and I had been left alone. The others had gone inside to watch a movie.

I looked up at Edward; glancing at him through my slightly damp eyelashes, his hair was wet and dripping a little, caused by the playful splashes from Alice moments before she'd departed. I bit my lip; I was embarrassed, and self-conscious. I'd shown characteristics that I had not even realized existed until tonight. It was all Rosalie's doing; there was no doubt about that. It was Edward's encouragement to get to know her better was what drove me to play along in the first place. However, I was shocked to realize how much fun I'd had playing her drinking games, and I was thankful that the alcohol infused a daring side in me.

"Did you have fun?" Edward asked me from across the spa, his foot rubbed against the calf of my leg. I was sure it was intended to be playful, but the sensation sent shivers up my thigh.

"Yeah," I mumbled. I was feeling dizzy, and so I rested my head against the side of the spa. After a pause I gestured to my head. "Is it normal to feel this weird? I feel like I'm in this strange dream state, you know that point between being awake and being asleep. Everything just feels so surreal." I wondered if I was even making any sense.

He nodded in understanding and smiled. "Only you could sound so philosophical when you're under the influence, Bella," he chuckled. "Come here," he told me, reaching his arms out for me. I swam across the spa to him and found myself being tucked under his arm in his usual one-armed hug. He left it resting there and I felt my skin tingle under his. It felt good.

"This feels good," I said not really caring if he knew what I was thinking. Perhaps that's a normal reaction from being drunk.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm glad you opened up tonight." He told me, referring to the games I'd played with our friends. "Normally you're a lot quieter, especially at school."

His fingers began to trace patterns on the skin of my shoulder as I slouched against him. We grew silent and I concentrated on the feelings and sensations his skin against mine created. "Mmm," I mumbled, half in response to his statement, but mostly in pleasure.

He pushed me off him slightly and moved his legs so that they wrapped around me, then he pulled me against his chest. I nearly gasped; sure, we were affectionate with each other, we were close friends, but he'd never held me like this before. I closed my eyes relishing the feel of his arms around me. His hands traced up my shoulders to the tops and he started to knead away at the tension in the muscles. I revelled in the sensation; the heat of the water as it bubbled around us was nice. I would have to remember to use the Cullens' spa more often. The feel of his hands as they worked out pressure felt pretty good too.

"Mmm," I said again. "You're good." Edward chuckled. The vibrations his laughter caused rippled through me as it touched the tips of my ears. He continued to work his hands until they grew tired he let them drift back down my shoulders, and I felt better this time around when he began to draw the same patterns on my skin.

"Do you ever wonder what your life would be like without your family?" I asked, reflecting back to a thought I'd had earlier that day.

"Yeah," he said after a beat, not stopping his finger movements. They continued to drift lower down my arms. "I know it would be different."

"What do you think would change?" I queried, curious and wanting to hear his thoughts.

"Hmm, well I wouldn't have had Esme or Carlisle to bring me up. From what Esme has told me about my biological mother, she was different. More conservative, religious as well, but she was a joyful woman; Esme told me she was so happy to have a baby of her own. She loved me."

I nodded thoughtfully and Edward's fingers glided under the water to my lower back, rubbing gently in slow circles. "What else?"

"I'd probably be living in Chicago still. Well, I wouldn't be in Forks. I wouldn't know Lauren or Emmett… I wouldn't know you."

I twisted my head around to look at him and took a breath. "I'm sorry you lost your biological family, Edward, but I'm glad you're in my life." His fingers stilled on my back for a moment, I turned back to face the front and relaxed back into him and he resumed tracing my skin.

"Me too," he agreed. Silence overtook us again and I closed my eyes. The mixture of alcohol and the fact that it was probably very late -- way past the time I normally went to bed -- had made me unbelievably sleepy. Except the sensations of Edward's fingers working their way across my back kept me wide awake and a strange ache, one that I'd only felt a handful of times in my life, began to settle between my legs. Thoughts of Edward exploring this area with his fingers made me bite back a moan of pleasure. His fingers drifted higher, lingering over the elastic of my bikini top before climbing higher to my neck, then he'd make a similar path back down to my waistline again.

What is he doing? My fuzzy thoughts tried to comprehend what was going on, but the sense of pleasure that shot through me made it hard to understand anything. A sigh of pleasure escaped from my lips and over the sounds of the jets I heard him groan. I felt him shift underneath me and something hard pressed against me for a moment before he moved again and he moaned in frustration. My eyes sprang open and I lifted my head, confused.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he apologized and pushed me away gently. I floated in the water for a moment before I turned around to meet his gaze. I'm sure I must not have covered up the feeling of hurt well because his expression was heartbreaking.

I shook my head not wanting to hear his regrets and stood, pushing myself into a standing position. The jets caused the water to swirl around my waist and I made me stumble a little.

"It's late, and we have to get up early in the morning, I'm going to take a shower." I refused to look him in the eye; the heat in my cheeks betrayed my embarrassment. I was so sure he had been interested in me. _I guess not. _I tried not to let the feeling of rejection show on my face. I managed to stagger out of the spa unscathed and made my way across the balcony and slipped past the sliding door.

Inside the lights were out and Alice, Jasper and Rosalie were watching the end of a comedy. Jasper eyes were closed as he lay asleep in Alice's lap. Rosalie sat alone in her chair curled up with a blanket.

"I'm just going to take a shower," I murmured to Alice who looked up at me as I walked through the room. She nodded and gestured to a closet that held towels. I grabbed a few things quickly from my bag and made my way to one of the bathrooms.

The steam and heat of the hot water calmed me as I washed the chlorine from my body. My body was still aching from Edward's touch and I whimpered as my fingers grazed over the lips of my private parts. I cursed his name for making me feel this way. After a few moments, I shut the hot water off and stood under the spray until it turned stone cold. Then I shut that off too and climbed out, grabbed my towel and found a large T-shirt and pajama pants to wear.

Edward was nowhere to be seen by the time I had finished and made my way back to the living room. The movie was finished and everyone was getting ready for bed. "Where's Edward?" Jasper asked me. He'd woken from his position on Alice's lap and was making himself comfortable on one of the low wooden sofa beds. I shrugged and averted my gaze, but I was saved from speaking as Edward walked through the sliding door, still dripping wet from the spa.

The rest of us made ourselves comfortable in our beds while Edward finished getting ready. Alice had already flicked the light switch when he clambered onto the remaining mattress across the room from me. It took a while to finally get to sleep and when I finally did, my dreams were of him. We were still in the spa, and while I dreamed of him he never pulled away.

* * *

**End notes:**

**Thanks for reading. If you've been with me from the start then you are incredible and I love you. If you're new then thanks for reading through to here. I hope you stay! :)**

**I will try to keep my updates regular but as I'm sure you will understand, real life gets in the way and I can't always make time for writing, especially when my boyfriend gets upset because I'm spending too much time writing and not enough with him. **

**I was going to include the church scene for this chapter, but I thought that it would be a nice place to leave it where I did. **

**I hope you liked it, let me know by reviewing. Even if you didn't like it or have some suggestions, feel free to let me know as well as I appreciate all kinds of feedback. **

**While you're at it, why don't you tell me what your favourite drinking games are??**


	5. Settling Disputes

**Authors Note:**

Okay, so I went and saw New Moon, I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet but I LOVED it. So if you haven't seen it yet, and it's playing at your cinema, then what are you waiting for???

Thank you to those who took the time to send me a review for the last chapter! I seriously dropped everything when I got that little alert tone on my phone telling me I had a new email from .... :)

Thank you to my lovely beta's Ragna and Dani, who always send me my chapters back so quickly and with awesome ideas for me to improve.

Check out my profile page for a new poll I've put up regarding Edward's Point of View for this story... Vote, and let me know what you think.

So, here's chapter five, I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**Settling Disputes**

We were awoken the next morning by the sounds of Esme making breakfast. I opened my eyes and groggily peered around. Edward and Jasper were still asleep. I could hear Jasper's light snores and if I sat up a little, I could see Edward's sleeping form still stretched out on the mattress. The mattresses that Alice and Rosalie had used were empty. While I was used to being up early, the effects of the alcohol last night and the later than normal bedtime had caused me to be rather slow moving. I rubbed my hands over my eyes and tried to recall the events of last night.

I was mortified to discover that I could remember everything, including the embarrassing moments with Edward in the hot tub after everyone else had gone inside. I groaned quietly and decided to bury myself further into the blankets. Edward's rejection still stung, and not only that, I felt guilty because Edward was still in a relationship with someone, and I had, more or less, given him a lap-dance in the hot tub.

"Bella," Alice called, standing above me. She'd gotten up and was already dressed. "Breakfast is ready," she sang and nudged me with her toe.

I sighed, grumbled and rolled over so I was on my back and could see her properly. Satisfied that I was in a position to wake myself up completely now, she turned her attention to Jasper and Edward.

Morning mass was at ten o'clock that morning, and Alice decided she wanted to play another game. Over breakfast, she told us the rules. We'd played it before but only when we were kids and it had been with Emmett, Edward, Alice and me, so Jasper and Rosalie were new to the game.

"Each of us will act as if we are someone else. In this case, Bella will pretend to be me; Rosalie will pretend to be Bella. Jasper will pretend to be Edward, and Edward will pretend to be Jasper, while I will pretend to be Rosalie," she finished and looked around making sure that everyone understood.

Edward rolled his eyes. "This game is lame, Tinkerbell," he moaned at Alice but Jasper punched his shoulder in defense of his girlfriend. I smiled at the nickname Edward used for Alice every now and then, because she reminded me strongly of Peter Pan's small sidekick.

"Come on, you've had fun doing this before," Alice said, dismissing his groans. I always played Alice. She was a lot easier to mimic than Rosalie would be, especially since I had never pretended to be her, and she was my polar opposite. The rules were fairly simple. You had to stay in character. If you met anyone new, then you had to introduce yourself as who you were portraying. The game generally confused people who weren't playing, so we usually played when we were out of town and no one knew us.

After that was settled, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and I all piled into Edward's Volvo as he slipped into the driver's seat.

Alice had primped and pouted in the hallway mirror, before leaving the house, in a comical version of Rosalie.

I audibly obsessed over my shoes insisting that I had to change them three times before I could be happy.

Edward fawned over me, in an attempt to look like love-struck Jasper fixated on his Alice.

Jasper had asked if pretending to be Edward meant that he could drive Edward's Volvo. Edward put his foot down at that.

Rosalie made an attempt at biting her lip and looking embarrassed every five seconds and then, much to my amusement, stumbled down the stairs, imitating my clumsiness. She shot me a wry smile and winked, and I realized she wasn't trying to be offensive.

We continued playing and keeping up our antics. Edward who was pretending to be Jasper but was still driving the Volvo got annoyed as Alice (who was playing Rosalie) moved forward from her back seat to try and look in his rear-view mirror.

Rosalie sighed exasperatedly, breaking out of character. "I am not _that _bad!" She dragged Alice back to her seat.

I became apprehensive as we approached the cathedral. I'd never really been a fan of churches before; my mother had dragged me to a few in the time I'd spent with her. Not that I didn't believe in God or anything, but churches have just always creped me out. They're big and seem so impersonal.

We walked in and found a pew a few rows back from where Carlisle and Esme were already seated (they'd left the house before us).

The service was just about to start as we made our entrance and as we took our seats the priests began making their procession to the front of the room. I noticed that they walked really slowly…

The head priest's voice echoed around the room as he opened up in prayer. The responding sound from the congregation echoed as well. When I pointed this out to Edward, who was sitting beside me, he smirked and nodded in agreement.

After a sequence of standing and sitting and kneeling, a few hymns, a rather uninteresting reading from the book of Exodus and communion, the priest closed the mass.

We stood to our feet one final time and people started to leave. Three pews ahead of us, Carlisle stood to greet a regal looking man with long jet-black hair, who responded warmly. I couldn't help but get the distinct impression that Carlisle was not so pleased to see him. I watched him with interest until Alice distracted me. The others were walking outside to a courtyard on the side of the cathedral where a lot of people went to mingle after the service.

"Alice," she said to me, grinning. It took me a few seconds to catch on to why she was calling me by her own name. I'd forgotten we were all playing a game.

"Uh… Rosalie?" I glanced sideways at an uninterested Rosalie who was trying to imitate me, or maybe she was just bored.

"Come on Bella," Alice whispered in my ear, trying to encourage me to be more enthusiastic. I sighed and rolled my eyes, then placed the bubbliest expression I could muster and started to dance around the area we were standing in. Unfortunately not really mastering the grace that Alice possessed. Even if I was trying to imitate Alice, I would never be able to capture her style. She giggled at me, amused.

I felt myself run smack into something hard. The impact caused me to fall on my ass. "Oof! Sorry." I realized, as I looked upward, that I'd run into a person. A very tall man stood before me, he wasn't much older than me. He was quite stocky as well, and his size reminded me of Emmett's. He smiled down at me and held out a hand to help me to my feet. I stumbled back to my feet but he didn't let go of my hand.

"My apologies," he said in an accent that was a mixture of Italian and American. He was very good looking, but he leered at me, glancing up and down my body in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. His grip was strong around my hand.

I glanced over toward the others who were still standing where I'd left them; they were all looking at me. Edward's eyes were narrowed in what appeared to be dislike. I looked back to where the Emmett look-a-like was still gazing down at me.

"You'll have to watch where you're going," he told me, looking at me curiously. I blushed with embarrassment. "Felix," he said gripping the hand he was still holding onto.

"Err." I glanced back toward Alice and her eyes widened. I remembered the game we were playing.

"A-Alice," I told him, stuttering a little over the name.

His leer grew. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alice." He nodded his head and finally let go of my hand. "Be more careful next time, Alice. I wouldn't want to see you damage yourself in any way."

"Sorry," I apologized again and blushed but he smiled and waved my apology away.

"Are you from around here?" Felix asked me. I supposed he was trying to be friendly but the way he posed his question made me think that he was being more than just polite.

"Ah, no. I live further down the coast. We're visiting for the weekend."

"Ah, that's a shame. It would have been nice to see your face around here more often. Mass might not be so trying if I had you to look at."

I tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace. My cheeks remained red throughout the entire conversation, flushing with embarrassment. Eventually, he let me go and bid me farewell.

"I hope I'll see you around, _Ciao._" He winked and turned to walk out of the room.

I walked slowly back toward the others and noted that Edward was frowning. "What?" I asked him, anxious.

He shook his head and tried to appear nonchalant. "Nothing."

"I think that guy has a thing for you," Alice said, flipping her hair and smirking in a Rosalie fashion.

"Alice!" Edward snarled at her.

She blinked at him, rolled her eyes and pointed to herself. "I'm Rosalie, dickhead."

Edward glanced upward and sighed. "I'm sick of this game, I'm not playing anymore." He turned and followed the direction that Felix had just left.

I narrowed my eyes after him, confused and unsure of his behavior, before I quickly chased after him. By the time I reached him he was leaving out the front entrance.

I found him standing on the steps of the cathedral and looking out onto the street below.

"What's wrong?" I asked him immediately, coming up behind him. It was extremely unlike Edward to get upset over something so trivial. I knew it had to be something more than just the stupid games that Alice liked to play.

He reached out for me and put a hand around my back, pulling me protectively to his side in a one-armed hug. "I know that guy," he told me as he held onto me. "He's bad news. Stay away from him."

I pulled away from his embrace, feeling skeptical. "Edward, are you insane?" I asked him, not understanding what was going on through his mind. "I bumped into him. It was an accident. We exchanged, like, _two_ words. That doesn't mean we're best friends now or something stupid or something." Two words was maybe an exaggeration but it may as well have been. There was seriously nothing to worry about. He rolled his eyes at me and I felt like I was missing something important, but he wasn't really giving me any information.

He sighed in frustration. "I didn't mean it like that," he told me, though his voice was low as though maybe he did.

"I just know his family, and… If you see him ever again, just walk in another direction. Okay?"

"Why?" I asked him, needing to know what was making Edward so upset but he only shook his head, refusing to tell me.

"Fine, don't tell me," I said, feeling irritated. I turned away from him, ready to march back inside and leave him there. I knew my response was immature but I was still upset from what had happened last night. I knew that while I felt guilty, I also felt hurt and unwanted from him rejecting me.

"Bella," he pleaded with me. He sighed in frustration and pulled on my shoulder so that I would face him. "Why can't you just trust me? You don't want to know."

"Don't presume what I don't want to know, Ed-_ward_." I spat out the second syllable of his name and shrugged his arm off my shoulder. A sudden wave of fury swept over me. My cheeks heated and I clenched my hands into fists. _Is he jealous?_ I wondered. I remembered the way Felix had looked at me. _Yeah, he was a little creepy, _I reasoned_, but I'd never go for a guy like him anyway!_ What right did Edward have to tell me who I could be with and who I had to stay away from?

It felt unjustified. If I told him that he couldn't be with Lauren because she was a bitch then he'd probably have something to say about it. "You're a hypocrite, Edward," I hissed angrily at him. I tried to turn again but this time he stepped closer and gripped my wrist, still preventing me from going anywhere. I tried to wrench my arm from his grasp but he only tightened it. He was angry. Edward hated being called a hypocrite.

Despite the fact that I was fuming at him, at that moment, his close presence still caused tingles of anticipation to run up and down my spine. I hastily tried to push the feelings of desire away.

"How am I a hypocrite?" he asked, incredulous.

"How can you tell me who I can't talk to when you're dating Lauren _freaking_ Mallory?" I countered, still trying to get him to let go so that I could make a quick retreat.

His eyes narrowed in confusion and he dropped my wrist from his grip. "What the hell are you talking about? Lauren?" He gestured back inside with his hand. "She is _nothing_ like that guy."

I'd touched a nerve but I didn't care. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Edward." I was sick of fighting with him. I could never tell him what Lauren was really like. I'd probably break his heart and I couldn't bear to do that to him.

I was free from his hold now, so I turned heel and barely managed to run from him, ignoring his cries for me to stop.

**~*~*~**

"Hmm, so that didn't really go so well." Alice frowned as she reapplied makeup in the ladies bathroom at the shopping mall.

Edward had already taken off with Jasper, abandoning me with Alice and Rosalie's shopping trip. Not that I particularly wanted to drive with him anyway. Alice had bombarded me with questions as soon as Rosalie had given us a few moments alone. She was perusing one of her favorite auto shops for bits and pieces for her new project. We were due to be leaving soon, as once again, Alice had way too many bags to carry and had enlisted my help. She'd also managed to convince me to buy some new clothes.

"No." I slumped against the vanity feeling gloomy.

"Cheer up, Bella." She turned sideways to look at me. "Edward is the most oblivious guy in the world when it comes to girls. If it weren't for the fact that most girls generally throw themselves at him, flirting and pretty much shedding their underwear for him… Then he'd have no idea."

I blinked. She was pretty much missing the entire point to this whole conversation. Edward and I rarely fought, and the few times we had done so in the past, we'd made up fairly quickly. I could even remember back to the last time we'd disagreed over something.

We were fourteen and I had kicked his football onto the roof of my house. He'd called me an idiot and clumsy, and that I should know better because I was crap at sports. I'd climbed onto the roof that afternoon to retrieve the ball for him. When he found out what I did, he called me an idiot again because I should know better as I was clumsy, and what if I'd fallen? But he thanked and hugged me and let me play with his football even though two days later, it landed on my roof again.

Despite the fact that we usually made up quickly, I still felt uneasy. What if he told Lauren that he'd stop being friends with me?

"Pssh!" Alice made a condescending noise as I voiced my thoughts. "You two will be back to your typical joined-at-the-hips way in no time at all. Trust me. I have no idea why Edward is with that whore, but I do know that he'd never let her come between you two." I felt a little reassured, as Alice was _usually_ right when it came to knowing what was ahead.

"I hope you're right, Alice."

We finished up in the bathroom and Rosalie found us a few minutes later, _Automotive_ shopping bags in hand. Soon enough, we were back on the road to Forks. I sat in the back and watched the scenery flash by as Alice managed to keep a characteristic running commentary of what she wanted to do that week, and sped down the 101.

Edward was nowhere to be seen by the time we got home. I clambered up the stairs to my room and looked out across the gap to where his bedroom was, but his window was shut and so were his blinds.

I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night. I knew Edward was angry with me; I'd called him a hypocrite, and had insulted his girlfriend. There was no wonder he was refusing to talk to me.

It was three in the morning when I heard the patter of rain against the window of my bedroom. _Tap, tap, tap. _In my sleepy state of mind I pictured that it was actually Edward throwing his collection of pebbles from the driveway at my balcony door. _Tap, tap, tap, tap. _My eyes flew open and I stumbled out of bed to my balcony not even bothering with the light this time.

Edward's wrist was tilted back, ready to throw another bunch of small pebbles at my window but he lowered it when he saw me. His eyes lowered down my body and I realized that I'd forgotten to get my robe to cover myself up. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to cover myself up.

"Are you still angry with me?" he asked, his eyes were pleading as they moved back up to my face. I sighed with relief.

"Are you still mad at me?" I questioned back, and he shook his head. "Sorry I called you a hypocrite."

"Sorry I am one."

I gave him a small smile and he yawned. I felt better now that we'd cleared the air. Because yawning was contagious, I followed suit and he chuckled. "Go back to bed, Bella. I'm sorry I woke you."

I shook my head to tell him to stop. "No, you didn't, I couldn't sleep anyway."

We talked for a while longer, mostly about our trip away. How Alice really needed to get over her awful games, how Rosalie seemed to be warming up to me. We talked about school and our teachers; which ones we hated, which ones were okay. We both agreed that Mr Banner, our Biology teacher was the easiest to deal with. And that Mr Varner must have a toupee considering last semester he was going bald, and now this semester he had a full head of hair. Edward also told me that he had spoken to Emmett, and apparently he now had a motorbike gang. Or so he had said. I laughed at the thought of my brother in any kind of gang.

My clock glowed four am by the time I got back to bed. This would give me two and a half hours of sleep for the night, but I didn't really care all that much. I was happy that Edward and I had managed to get past our fight.

**~*~*~**

Edward sat with Lauren at lunch the next day. I picked at my food, not really interested in eating. I tried not to stare but found myself glancing across the cafeteria to where they sat at their own table, heads bent close together in deep conversation.

Lauren didn't really look too happy about whatever it was Edward was telling her, and judging from the conversations I'd had about Lauren over the weekend with Edward. I could judge fairly on what the conversation entailed. She confirmed it by turning in her seat to glower at me from across the cafeteria, and when she narrowed her eyes, I quickly looked away.

I heard her chair scrape back when she stood to walk away. I should have felt sorry for Edward in that moment. It seemed to everyone watching that they'd broken up. The usual cafeteria noise was a lot quieter. People were speaking in hushed tones and kept looking over to where Edward still sat by himself. However, I couldn't help but feel relieved. _I'm a terrible best friend, aren't I? _

He sat quietly by my side in Biology, staring straight ahead at the board, diligently copying down notes. Usually he didn't bother to pay so much attention in class. He was a smart guy but he didn't usually apply himself to his studies, so his grade was an average B.

_You okay? _I slid him a note across the work bench.

He glanced down at the piece of paper and nodded silently.

I took it back and wrote again. _Do you want to skip last period? We could drive to First Beach. _

_Sounds good, c_ame his written reply a few seconds later.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of Biology, Edward and I quickly packed our things away and headed toward the parking lot instead of our last period classes.

He remained silent until we arrived at First Beach. I couldn't' think of what to say. He'd broken up with Lauren plenty of times before, but he'd never been so down about it before. This silent Edward wasn't really something I was used to.

"Want to talk?" I asked him finally. I hoped I might be able to make him feel better by letting him speak about it.

"Yeah," he said and we began our walk across the sand. I waited for him to start and we walked in silence for a bit more before he began talking.

"She accepted what I said," he told me. I looked up, confused. I didn't understand what his words meant. Was it foolish of me to have already pictured how this conversation would go?

_She broke up with me._

_I'm so sorry. _

_I couldn't let her come between us. I love you! _

_I love you too! _

_Oh, Bella!_

_Oh, Edward…!_

I rolled my eyes at my lame, imaginary conversation. Okay, so maybe I knew that it wouldn't go like that, but still, I wasn't expecting Lauren to accept Edward telling her that she couldn't demand who he could be friends with.

"So, you're still together?" I asked him after a beat.

"Yes." I suppressed a shudder that tried to possess me at his affirmation.

"What did she say?" I prompted him.

"Well, after I told her that I wasn't going to let her choose my friends for me, she agreed and said that she'd thought about it over the weekend and that I was right. That she was jealous that we spent so much time together. She wanted to spend more time with me."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So, what are you going to do?" I asked him, dreading what he'd say next.

"I don't know… But maybe she's right; I mean she's my girlfriend."

I remembered the look she'd given me in the cafeteria that afternoon and the memory prompted me to ask him. "What did you tell her you'd do?"

"Nothing, I just said that you were my best friend and that she'd have to deal with it."

I suppressed a smile but still felt let down. I didn't want Edward's heart to be broken by Lauren. As much as I despised the girl because of the way she made my life hell… Edward liked her. She made him happy. But I'd been counting on them breaking up, because then I wouldn't have to deal with her.

"Just be careful," I warned him. I knew she probably had something up her sleeve.

He laughed. "It's just Lauren, Bella. I'm sure I can handle it."

* * *

**End Note:**

**Thank you so much for reading the chapter. Did you like it? Hate it? **

**What's the stupidest thing you've ever fought with your BFF over? **

**Also, if you've seen New Moon, tell me what you think? I'm dying to know the opinions of others. :P **

**Review, review, review! :P**


	6. Breaking News

**Authors Note: Thanks to my beta's Ragna and Dani for their excellent skills in making this story somewhat presentable. **

**See my profile for a poll that I've put regarding Edward's point of view.**

**I'm also working on a new story that I'll have up in a few days. So keep your eyes out for that...**

**Anyway, on with the story. Oh, and I don't own Twilight. Otherwise I'd be writing real stories. ****

* * *

**

**Chapter Six**

**Breaking News**

I scanned my bookshelf, looking for any classic that I could bury myself in. I needed an escape. I pulled my faithful Austen collection from the shelf and settled myself on my bed, trying to immerse myself within the pages of an older version of our language. However, I soon found that I was comparing Edward and myself to the relationships described in black ink.

I threw Austen aside and crossed the room again to my bookshelf. _Anne of Green Gables _was a classic that I'd read time and time again. The pages were well worn, and I thumbed the spine of the book, considering it. I was five minutes into reading the book when I remembered that Gilbert Blythe reminded me too much of Edward to continue reading. Anne was quickly tossed aside too.

I sighed and flopped back onto my bed; my mind was not going to be easily distracted. It had been hard to not show the hurt I felt that Edward had, once again, chosen Lauren. I mean, I didn't think he felt the same way at all, but it still hurt that he continued to be with someone who made my life hell.

Edward didn't really know all that much about how Lauren was when he wasn't with her. His family had told him that she wasn't very nice, but he'd always defended her. Apparently Lauren confessed quite a lot of her personal life to him. He'd not shared much with me, knowing that it was really none of my business, but from what I and what most of the town knew, she had it harder than most girls my age.

_I wonder if that's why she's such a _bitch. It was possible. Or maybe she was just born evil? I sighed and crossed the room hoping to be third-time-lucky. The thin spine of _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe _touched my finger tips as I used my hand to scan the row of books against my wall. I let my hand stop as I considered the story. No romance in this one and it would be quite easy for me to become engrossed in a fantasy world.

I'd made it to Chapter Three when I heard Charlie come home and yell up the stairs to announce his arrival. I shot out of bed, realizing that I was supposed to be getting dinner ready. I swung my bedroom door open and rushed across the hallway, nearly colliding with Emmett, who was coming out of the bathroom.

"Watch it, Klutzilla," he said. I rolled my eyes at his new nickname for me, but continued on and down the stairs.

"Hi, dad. Sorry I haven't started dinner yet." I carried on through to the kitchen, and Charlie followed behind me.

"No problem, Bells," he said, standing in the doorway as I started to search through the fridge for something quick to make.

"Hey, do you just want to do diner food?" he asked me. I screwed up my nose up. The thought of greasy diner food really didn't appeal to me but both Charlie and Emmett enjoyed eating there, and I supposed it was getting a bit late.

"Sure." I closed the fridge door and turned around.

"Emmett!" Charlie called up the stairs. "We're eating out."

"So, how's school going?" Charlie asked Emmett and me. They were both seated across from me in the booth we'd been seated at. We'd just finished ordering our food and now Charlie was attempting to make small talk.

"Great!" Emmett said through a full mouth as he practically inhaled the complimentary bread. "Tryouts were a breeze; made the same position as last year."

"Ew, gross Emmett!" I exclaimed as bits of masticated bread flew from his mouth and hit my hand, which was resting on the table.

Charlie chuckled and turned to me. "How about you, Bells?" he asked me curiously.

I swallowed the tiny bit of bread I'd been chewing, and shrugged indifferently. "Okay, I guess. I have some new teachers. They're all right."

Emmett cracked up laughing. "I've got Mrs Buncher this year. She's awful!"

I raised an eyebrow. I'd had Mrs Buncher for English two years ago and she'd been fine with me. "What do you mean?"

"She got angry at me when I asked her if the reason we were watching a movie in class that day was because she was hung over."

Charlie snorted with laughter but then quickly tried to recover and replaced his expression with a more serious one.

"What did she say then?" I asked him with a cynical smile.

"She said that if it seemed that way, then she'd make sure to create a more educational course outline, and that from now on, she'll make sure that all of the classes are filled with lots of work for everyone to do."

I laughed. "Sucked in, Em! It serves you right."

"Your teacher probably just thought you needed a break to ease you back into school," Charlie said.

Our food arrived shortly after and the conversation was cut short by Charlie and Emmett filling their mouths with excess amounts of food. My mind drifted back to my walk along the beach with Edward earlier that afternoon, and I half-heartedly picked at the greasy food.

"Is it alright if I go out tonight, Dad?" Emmett asked , his mouth, still filled with food.

"Where are you going?" Charlie asked, glancing up from his steak and fries or a moment.

"A bunch of guys from the res want to hang out. Jake Black will be there too," he told Charlie.

I looked up, distracted from my thoughts. I knew Jacob Black from the few times I'd gone with Charlie to visit Jacob's dad, Billy.

"Sure, but take Bella with you."

"Aw, Dad, I don't want to go with Emmett!" I protested.

Emmett laughed. "What's wrong with going with me?"

I smiled. I only didn't want to go with Emmett because I knew of the things he got up to when he went out. The boys from the res weren't exactly my kind of scene either. Though, I wondered if maybe I needed a change.

"Go on, Bella," Charlie insisted. "You'll probably have fun. Make some new friends. Just make sure you're both back before ten. It's a school night."

So case closed. I was hanging out with Emmett tonight. We finished up, Charlie took us home and I quickly got changed for a night out. Apparently we were going to the beach.

We arrived at First Beach and I recalled that it was the second time I'd been there that day. This time, however, Edward was no where around. Most of the crowd that had already gathered were boys from the reservation. Emmett was good friends with Sam Uley, and as soon as we set foot onto the sand, Sam and his friends came over to greet us.

"Hey, Emmett!" one of the guys greeted my brother, approaching us and slapping him hard on the back. "You brought Bella!" another cried happily, and I was suddenly crushed into a bear hug by Jared, one other good friend of Emmett's. I laughed and tried to push him away, feeling embarrassed.

"Glad you could make it," Sam told Emmett and smiled down at me. He was quite tall.

"Yeah, can't stay too long," Emmett said. "Chief orders to be back home by ten." The boys laughed, and soon enough we were all walking down to the shoreline to where a large bonfire had been built and was steadily burning away.

The Quileute tribe was mourning the end of the summer, their end of school vacation started and ended two week later than ours did, so this was the reason why they were partying.

"Bella!" I heard my name being called, and looked up from the log I had been using as a seat, by the fire. Jacob Black was jogging toward me along the beachfront. He seemed happy to see me, and the sight of him made me smile. I quickly stood and met him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace.

Jacob and I went way back. I'd known him even longer than I'd known Edward and his family. My father and Jacob's father were good friends, and I'd heard stories that his older sisters used to dress me up and wheel me around in a stroller as a small child.

"So, you must have gotten a new hair style or something… Because you look different," he said looking me up and down. I looked at him confused. I wasn't really sure what he was talking about as I'd not made any changes to my appearance since the last time I'd seen him. He stood back, studying me closely. "Ah!" he finally exclaimed, realizing what was different. "You lost your Siamese twin!"

I rolled my eyes and tried to throw a punch at his stomach, but he leapt out of the way; my knuckles barely grazed his shirt. Jacob didn't really like Edward all that much, the pair never really got along well growing up. In the end I had given up trying to play with both of them at the same time.

"Come on." He grabbed my hand and started to drag me up the beach. Once we were walking side-by-side, I dropped his hand; I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about us. Jacob was two years younger than I was, though you wouldn't be able to guess it by looking at him.

"What's new with you, Jake?" I asked him. "How was your summer vacation?"

Jacob had gone to Hawaii for a couple of weeks to visit his sister, who was due to marry a Samoan guy Jacob didn't really approve of. He was telling me more about him now that he'd had the chance to meet the guy. "He's a real douche, Bella," Jacob told me matter-of-factly. "He thinks he's king shit. My sister deserves way better."

I laughed at his crudeness but found it sweet at how concerned he was for his sister.

"I'm sure Rebecca sees something in him." I tried placating Jacob, but he only sighed and shook his head.

"Dad's distraught that he's going to lose her, she wants to continue living in Hawaii with Douche Brain."

I reached out a hand and tried to give him a sympathetic rub on the back, but he pulled me in for a hug. It felt awkward at first, but I tried to make it seem comforting by continuing to rub his back with my arm. He held onto me, pressing me to his chest until seconds ticked past and he still hadn't let go.

"Jake," I said, my voice muffled, and I tried to pull away. He got the hint and let me out of his grasp. He looked away out to the black waves that were crashing to shore. A storm was brewing over the sea, and I could see dark clouds forming up above us.

"Thanks for coming out," Jacob said after a while. "It's really good to see you."

"Bella!" I turned and saw Emmett. He was waving his arms around to get my attention.

"Ugh," I sighed and turned back to Jacob.

He smiled and nodded and I made to turn away, starting the walk back to the bonfire, where Emmett and his friends still were.

"Hey Bella," Jacob called out to me. "Come back soon, yeah? You don't come here often enough."

I smiled, liking how appreciated I felt by Jacob's words. It wasn't often that I got to feel that way. "Sure, Jake, I'd like that."

I made it to Emmett, and he gave me a strange look when I reached him. "What were you talking to Jake about?" he asked me. I jabbed at his sides and told him to mind his own business.

It was just a bit after ten o'clock when we arrived back home and Charlie was sitting on the couch watching sports. Emmett joined him quickly, and I bid them both good night and retreated up to my room.

My mind was tired. I'd been trying to dispel any thoughts of Edward all night long. I had been slightly successful when I'd hung out with Jacob this evening, but now that I was alone, my thoughts were back with him.

My heart ached with the disappointment I felt. I'd been so sure that he'd broken up with Lauren. Yet they were still together. Fortunately, her plan had failed in getting me and him to stop being friends. I wasn't going to be able to see him as much, because he felt guilty over how much time we spent together, and I didn't doubt for a second that Lauren wouldn't give up on separating us.

I flipped open my laptop, on my desk and turned it on. While I waited for the screen to load up, I busied myself by picking out my clothes for tomorrow. It didn't take me long to find a simple shirt and jeans. I threw them over the back of my chair and took a seat on it. The screen was up and waiting for me to use.

I checked my email first; I had a few funny forwards from Alice, a short email from my mother letting me know what she was doing, and a couple of subscription emails that I quickly deleted from my inbox as they weren't really interesting.

I was about to close my laptop down when a chat box window popped up. It was from Edward.

_Well&Crude: _Hey, you're still up.

_Fea_Cygnus: _Yeah. Checking some emails.

_Well&Crude: _Get anything interesting?

I glanced out the window to see if I could spot Edward in his room, but his curtains were shut to keep the light out. For some reason, I was hurting over what had happened earlier that day, I couldn't pull myself way from the computer.

_Fea_Cygnus:_ Not really. Mom says hi though.

_Well&Crude: _Cool. Tell her I said hi.

_Fea_Cygnus:_ Will do.

_Well&Crude: _What'd you do tonight?

_Fea_Cygnus: _Hung out with Emmett and Jake and some of the other Quileute guys at La Push.

There was a pause and I felt irritated that I didn't know what he was doing, but then the pen icon flashed at the bottom of the screen that indicated he was responding_. _

_Well&Crude: _Did anything happen?

I furrowed my brow, unsure of what he was really asking.

_Fea_Cygnus: _No, not really.

He didn't reply for a few minutes after that. I stared at the screen waiting. I sighed and quickly typed a goodnight message.

_Fea_Cygnus:_ I'm going to bed, night.

I closed my laptop, not wanting to bother with waiting for him to respond. I still felt confused, hurt, angry…

I closed the curtains of my balcony door and changed out of my clothes into my nightie. I picked up my journal, which I stored on my nightstand, and wrote some thoughts about what was going on, hoping to dispel some of the anger and confusion that I felt.

The next morning when I woke, I felt a bit better, calmer. The ride to school was uneventful; Edward drove in silence, though he shot me looks every now and then, which I couldn't discern. Even Alice didn't seem to have much to talk about. Edward had made tryouts for the football team and was Quarterback again this year. Nobody was really all that surprised. Edward was a great athlete.

At the end of my first period, English, the teacher held up a piece of paper which she attached to the notice board at the front of the room.

"Feel free to put your name down if you would like to join the journalism group this year," she said. Most of the students ignored her, packing their things away, but something inside me was urging me to put my name up.

Alice had practically begged me to join an extra-curricular activity, saying that it would look good on my college applications. She'd even gone as far as researching what activity would best suit me. Perhaps Alice was right and that journalism was something I should put my hand up for.

Most of the class had already filtered out, and I approached the front of the classroom. I picked up the pen that was attached by a cord string and quickly scrawled my name, trying to be as neat as possible, before I had a chance to change my mind. Perhaps this was the change I needed.

The teacher gave me a warm smile, and I left the classroom feeling better but still a little unsure of myself. I knew a couple of other students from my year took journalism already, but I didn't really know them very well, as I was, of course, too shy to approach anyone new.

Angela Webber was probably best known for running the school paper and fortunately for me, she approached me in the hallways just after morning break.

"I noticed you put your name down for journalism," she said, smiling at me. She seemed genuinely happy to hear that I was willing to put my hand up.

"Uh, yeah," I mumbled, unsure of how to respond.

"Will you be coming this afternoon? It's the first meet up." I remembered that the notice had mentioned something of a get together after school, and I nodded my head ,trying to express eagerness.

"Great!" She enthused happily. "We're meeting in room 2B, in the English classroom. We'll be making a start around three -thirty."

"Sounds good. I'll see you then."

She smiled at me and then turned to walk in the opposite direction. I had Trigonometry next and started to make my way toward my next class. However, before I could make it to my sanctuary, I was met by Lauren leaning against the wall outside one of the Math rooms. Upon seeing me, she stood straight and made her way toward me.

"Hi, Bella," she said in a false, cheery voice.

"Uh, hi." My tone suggested I was unsure of myself and she smirked.

Students in the hallway slowed their walking pace to watch our exchange. I wondered if I could sidestep Lauren to get to my class and avoid any major confrontation. No such luck, however, because as I made to avoid her, she moved to stand in my way again.

"Thought we could have a little chat," Lauren said, though her voice no longer sounded cheery or friendly.

I sighed and looked into her eyes. They were narrowed slightly and her lips were thin and tight. She looked unhappy, and for a moment, as she looked at me, I saw a faint glimmer of apprehension, but that quickly faded as her sneering mask appeared to cover it.

"Lauren," I tried. "I really need to get to class."

"This won't take long." She leaned in close to whisper in my ear, her cheek pressed close against mine, so close that I could smell the moisturizer she used beneath her face paint. "Just wanted to let you know that I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work."

I took a step back, her being so close was extremely uncomfortable, and my survival instincts were begging me to back away.

"I'm not really sure what you're saying, Lauren." Her eyes narrowed further. I was aware that our peers were still watching; the hallway was far quieter than what was normal.

"Edward. You won't succeed in breaking us up; I'll make sure of that. You might think he treasures your friendship more than what we have together, but you're wrong. So, I suggest you stop trying to ruin a good thing. Otherwise you'll be very sorry."

Her threat went mostly unheard by the student population as she kept her voice low, but they were waiting with bated breath for something to happen, and as her eyes darted around to glance at her audience, she smirked. She took a half step back to look me up and down and then, without a word of warning, shoved past me, hard, the force pushing me into the wall.

I had no idea what to think after our exchange. I sat in Trigonometry, the only thing relating to the subject that came to mind was the love triangle I was trapped in.

Jessica Stanley sat beside me in this class, and she had witnessed my altercation with Lauren outside. Jessica was okay, though she loved to gossip. She sent me a note asking me what Lauren had said to me, pretending to be concerned. I replied and told her that she hadn't said much and that I was fine. That information caused Jessica to sulk because I hadn't left her with anything juicy to talk about at lunchtime.

Fortunately, by the time lunchtime came around, nothing had spread to Edward about what had happened. I imagined Lauren had taken care of that. She knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't tell him something like that anyway.

He sat with her again during lunch and I tried to concentrate on dividing my hot pie into perfect halves. Rosalie and Emmett were nowhere to be seen, so I sat with Jasper and Alice while I ate my lunch.

"Guys, you're making me sick," I told them at one point, as their loving looks escalated to making out.

"Sorry, Bella," Jasper said, pulling away from Alice. She sighed and sent me a disapproving frown.

"What? I'm trying to eat!" I protested. Edward joined us at that moment; I looked over the cafeteria to see Lauren leaving with some of her friends.

"Where's your bimbo going?" Alice asked Edward. He shrugged and mentioned something about how her friends had dragged her off to show her a new cheer they'd devised.

"Oh, Bella!" Alice gasped, suddenly excited. "I heard you decided to join the journalism group after all!"

I sighed, realizing it was inevitable that she would find out about it eventually. I was only surprised it hadn't taken her so long. "How'd you learn that?" I asked her, and took a bite into my apple half.

"Well, I think it was Angela who originally found out from reading the sign up list, and then she told Ben, who told Jasper, who told me!" she said in one breath. I raised my eyebrows,

"Wow, so only four degrees of separation." Edward said, laughing. "I have football after school, so I can still take you home if you want. What time does your group finish?"

I shrugged, I had no idea. "I can wait for you though, if it finishes early." I didn't mind.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and we scraped our chairs back.

Biology went by quickly. We were learning about cell ultrastructures and processes. I concentrated on the class activity, as I wasn't entirely familiar with the subject. Edward's pen tapped animatedly on his notebook as he watched me attempt to study the cells through the microscope we'd been given; he was easily distracted. I smiled and went to snatch at his pen, but he was too quick, and soon we were playing a game of cat and mouse. I tried to get his pen; he would continually keep it from my grasp. He would tease me by letting me get close enough to snatch at it, and then it would disappear and reappear in his other hand. "You're too quick." I grumbled and he began tapping again at his notepad.

Mr Banner was a pretty cool teacher, in the sense that he allowed talking and a little disruption as long as people were getting their work done. He looked up at us and smiled, but he raised his eyebrows in encouragement to keep working.

I bent my head over the electron microscopy again, this time inspecting a bit of glass that supposedly had skin tissue on it. I made some notes in my book before handing it to Edward, who took a quick glance, then copied my notes down, causing me to roll my eyes at his lack of effort.

The last period of the day was PE and it was not one that I looked forward to. It was the only class that Edward could ever convince me to happily skip, as it was an hour of torture where Coach Clapp would get us to run around the gym, and then make us endure forty minutes of more exercise, usually involving some form of contact sport. Usually, in these situations, I would be the last team member picked for the game, and everyone would avoid sending the ball my way. Today was no different. We were playing volleyball.

I took in the look of defeat already etched in my new team's expressions. _That really helps my self esteem._ _Thanks, guys._

Mike Newton was on my team and he sidled up to me. He was a nice guy; well liked by most of the school population, if not a little creepy.

"I heard you joined the journalism group," he said.

It was hard to restrain an eye roll. _What is this?_ I wondered, unable to believe that so many people would take an interest in what I signed up for. "Uh, yeah," I said, repeating the same response I'd given Angela earlier that day.

"Cool!" Mike grinned happily. "I joined too. I noticed your name on the list, so I signed up."

I raised a wary eyebrow. He signed up because I did? "Great," I mumbled as we took our places on the court.

Mike insisted on walking with me to the English classrooms once school was over, and I didn't protest, considering it would be rude and he was heading that way anyway. Though, I was a little creeped out over how friendly he was being.

Angela was already there waiting for us with her boyfriend, Ben, and Eric, a boy I recognized from my English class. A few others entered after me, including two girls that I'd only seen around school. Once there were about seven people in the room, Eric looked around and grinned. "Wow! Great turn out."

Mike, who was still standing next to me, gave a derisive snigger.

"Thanks so much for coming," Angela said to all of us. I think most of us all know each other, but just for formalities sake, we'll each go around in a circle and say our name."

I knew everyone's name except for the two randoms, who said their names were Samantha and Chloe and were in the grade ahead us.

"I wanted to use this time to work out some goals for what you guys want to do this semester," Angela said. She looked around at each of us and then pulled out some sheets of paper. "Here are some of our old newsletters, if you could look at them and try and think of ways we can improve, ideas for topics we can write about…"

"What about starting a news report, like on TV," Mike interrupted her.

Eric's eyes lit up at the idea. "Yeah, we could have reporters and people could talk about what's going on at school."

"That's a great idea," Angela said, encouraging. "Though, we would have to interview someone to give their reports."

I thought of Alice in that second and how much she loved to tell us what was going on all the time. "Maybe, Alice Cullen would be interested," I put my idea forward, a little hesitantly.

The group of people around me thought for a moment and then Samantha grinned. "Yeah, she'd be awesome." The rest of the group quickly agreed.

More ideas spilled forward after that, we perused the older magazines and news reports that had been used. Angela mentioned she would have to get permission to use a video camera and set up old TV's around the school.

We discussed ideas for topics. I kept quiet mostly, and Angela would occasionally ask for my opinion on something, and my reply would be nodding enthusiastically, agreeing to whatever was asked of me.

I think Angela was getting frustrated with how little I was contributing, and when she asked me for the fourth time for my opinion I offered an idea I'd been thinking about.

"Well, we could have a hot topic section in the paper." I bit my lip and felt my cheeks go red, not used to the attention, as all the other students stared at me. "I mean, we could use it to tackle big issues that are going on around the country, or maybe use it to bring light to teen problems, like abortion or how to find the right college…" My voice trailed off and I glanced down at the papers in front of me, feeling my neck and cheeks grow hotter.

"That's a terrific idea, Bella!" Angela commended.

"Yeah," Mike agreed. "We could even give tips for how to save money for college and other stuff like that!"

It seemed like a productive session. We all left feeling enthusiastic about how we could make things better for the journalism group at Forks High School.

I checked the time on the wall clock before leaving the classroom. Mike walked me out.

"Hey, Bella," Mike asked me. He looked nervous; he was fidgeting with the end of his shirt. I looked up at him curiously, wondering what had him so anxious.

"Yeah, Mike?"

"I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go see a movie together or something," he asked me in what sounded like a hopeful voice.

"Uh… I guess…" I wasn't really sure what kind of response to give him, but the one I did give seemed good enough for him.

"Great! How does this Friday night sound?"

"Okay, sure. Sounds okay to me." Mike bid me farewell after that and took off to his car. He'd offered me a ride home, but I'd told him I already had one.

Edward would be finishing his football practice soon. I decided to wait in the parking lot for him. Quite a few extra-curricular activities were finishing for the day. They were mostly held after school, though some took up lunch periods and weekend time as well. Alice was involved with about four different activities, and as well as student government, she was also occupied with Glee club, the school year book committee, and the debating team.

Alice insisted that colleges wanted more than just what you did inside the classroom.

I watched as the cheerleaders came out of the gymnasium, finished with their practice. Lauren was within the group, and seeing her reminded me of our exchange earlier that day. I sighed angrily; it felt unjustified. I had no intention of breaking the two of them up. Sure I had feelings for Edward, but I was sure I wouldn't do anything about it. I didn't like seeing Lauren and Edward together, but I wasn't prepared to make Edward miserable by plotting to destroy what they had.

"Well, well." I looked up, distracted from my thoughts. I was waiting beside Edward's car and Lauren had found me. She leaned against his car, no doubt intending on waiting for Edward to say goodbye after practice.

Lauren wasn't alone, she had a group of friends with her and they looked at me warily. She grabbed at my bag and I tried to hold onto it, but it was of no use as I'd been startled. The contents of the bag fell from the opening and onto the ground.

"Bella, you're so clumsy," she admonished. I sighed in frustration and mustered a glare to send her way. "You know, I didn't really get a chance to demonstrate what I meant by making sure you wouldn't interfere with me and Edward."

She shoved me hard and I fell onto my side on top of some of my textbooks that were spread out on the ground. "You should really pick your stuff up, Bella; you wouldn't want it to get dirty." I pushed myself off the ground and on to my knees.

"What the hell are you doing?" A voice, I recognized instantly as Edward's, called out across the lot.

I glanced up to see Lauren look over her shoulder, startled.

"Oh, Edward! Bella here and I were just talking and she dropped her stuff." She tried to lie but as Edward approached us she and I could both see that he was fuming.

He bent down quickly and helpfully picked up my books, then he straightened, handing them to me. He turned to glare at Lauren. "We need to talk," he told her. He grabbed her by the wrist and steered her across the parking lot. Her friends just gaped after her before they quickly dispersed.

After getting all my belongings together, and ensuring they were secure in my bag again, I stood to my feet and dusted the dirt off my knees. Edward and Lauren were a far enough distance away that I couldn't hear their voices, though I could tell that they were arguing.

"What!?" Edward nearly yelled. "Are you insane, Lauren?" He looked shocked and angry all at once. I decided at that moment that I wasn't going to wait for him. Knowing Lauren, they'd probably be arguing for hours. It wasn't that far of a walk to my house anyway.

As soon as I was secure in the fact that I was alone, walking along the side of the road, I found my tears could no longer be held back. I sighed heavily and wiped furiously at my cheeks. I was half way home when Edward's silver Volvo pulled up beside me. He got out of the car and stormed around to me. He was still pissed and I felt my breath catch in my throat, knowing that it was probably me he was angry at, though I had no idea what I'd done wrong.

I was surprised when I felt his arms wrap around me and pull me to his chest in an powerful embrace. His arms were strong and it was hard to breath normally with him in such close proximity, let alone with him squeezing me so hard.

"Ed-Edward!" I gasped. "I can't breathe." He stepped back but didn't let go of me entirely.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" he asked me. He was calmer now but traces of anger were still left behind.

"You seemed a little busy, I didn't want to interrupt..."

"We broke up," he told me, blurting it out before I could even blink.

I paused trying to process this revelation. "You what?"

"I saw what she did, Bella. She shoved you and made you drop your bag. Then she made you pick your stuff off the ground. Why didn't you tell me how Lauren was treating you? I had to find out from some guys from my team!"

I bit my lip, unsure of how to respond, instead leaned further into his embrace and tried to hide my head in his chest. I realized his anger wasn't directed at me, and for that I was grateful.

"Come on." He folded his arm across my shoulder and steered me to his car.

I was still shocked to find out that they'd broken up, but reason told me that it wouldn't be for long. I mean, Edward and Lauren broke up all the time. This was probably nothing different.

However, I couldn't help but feel a small bit of hope. With Lauren out of way, life would, with any luck, be easier.

* * *

**End note: **

**What did you think?**

**What extra curricular activities do/did you take place in at high school?? Any funny stories relating to them?? Let me know, I love hearing your stories!!**

**Also, I'm on twitter. Link on my profile. I'll update my account every now and then with where I'm at with my chapters as well as stories that I'm loving currently. **

**Now, please review!**


	7. Sweet Dreams

**Authors Note:**

**I am so sorry for the space in between chapters but to make it up to you I am going to give two chapters at once tonight/today. This is the first one, followed soon with the second one. **

**Thank you to my beta's Ragna and Dani for their help with picking out my errors. They are angels sent by God.**

**Thank you for your reviews, your kind words make my ego swell. **

**Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all have a wonderful time with whatever it is you are doing. **

**This is my present to you all, albeit it is small compared to what you all deserve.**

**Much love. **

**Chapter Seven**

**Sweet Dreams**

Edward took me home, and I sat silently in his car, my body tense. I felt relieved above all else, though I was still nervous. I peeked sideways at Edward, his hands were tense on the steering wheel, and he stared ahead, deep in thought.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, breaking the silence.

"I'm fine," I said honestly.

"You've been crying." Edward pointed out, though my tears had long since dried on my cheeks, I swiped my hand across them anyway.

Edward sighed wearily. "How could I have let this happen to you?" he asked, though it seemed he wasn't talking to me.

"Edward, this is _not_ your fault."

"Like fuck it isn't!" Edward batted angrily at the steering wheel. I winced as he swore.

We arrived on our street and Edward parked in his driveway. He stepped out of the car, and walked around to my side to open my door. I unfastened my seatbelt slowly, and climbed out as he held the door open. As soon as I was on my feet again, Edward pulled me into another hug. I sighed in content at being held against him, savoring the feeling of having his arms around me.

"I thought you already knew," I told him; finally answering the question he'd asked me before he'd driven me home.

"Knew how Lauren was treating you?" he clarified, and I nodded in response.

"No." He shook his head, and sighed. "Let's go inside," he suggested. He took my hand -- warm tingles shot up my arm -- and guided me through the front door of his house.

Alice was already there, sitting with Jasper. She looked at me with wide eyes, she could see everything. My red, blood shot eyes, Edward's stony expression, his hand wrapped around my own…

She bit her lip, and shot me a small smile before she looked away. Edward guided me past her and up the stairs to his room.

The Cullen house was huge. It was three stories tall, and Esme had gone to great lengths to design the interior to perfection. I'd been to Edward's house many times before, but I never got over how extravagantly the Cullens lived.

We reached the top floor of the house, the same floor that Edward's room was on. He opened the door, guided me in, and sat me on his bed. I felt a little relaxed sitting in his room; this place had always been a sanctuary for me. When my parents had fought before they'd separated, I would go to Edward's and find him in his room. He could usually tell by reading my face what was wrong, and then he would spend hours distracting me, telling me jokes and making me laugh.

He crossed the room to his stereo and placed his iPod in its docking station. He fiddled around with the controls, and when soft music started to play out of the speakers he finally turned again to cross the room and sit next to me on the bed.

"I knew you didn't exactly get along with each other," he admitted to me, and I nodded. I knew this much; he would have had to have been an idiot to not know this already. "How many times has she done this to you?"

"Done what, exactly?" I asked him to clarify. I took the skin of my lip between my teeth, did I really want to tell him everything? Would Edward want to know? I was stalling for time.

His lips twisted into a grimace, as he searched for words. "She pushed you, and humiliated you in front of her friends," he said to me empathetically, once again forcing me to relive those uncomfortable moments. My eyes dropped to the hands in my lap. I felt ashamed, because I hadn't ever been strong enough to stand up to her.

Edward was probably embarrassed for me. "How many times has she done something like that?" he asked me, and this time I knew what he was asking.

"I don't know, Edward. She's hated me since we were in elementary school, but she's only really started with this torment since you and her started dating."

"What!" Edward exclaimed, shooting up to a standing position. He took a few steps from the bed, and then angled his body to face mine. His expression was one of fury. "Bella, I can't believe you!" He was angry with me now. I bit my lip, and he groaned as he watched me.

"Bella," he breathed. He looked away, and I stared at him in confusion. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked again. I guess he had reason to be angry; Lauren and Edward had been dating off and on for quite some time.

I furrowed my brow; I'd already answered this question. "I thought you already knew. I mean, I realize you didn't know everything, but I thought you knew most of it. I didn't want to talk badly about the girl you love."

He scowled at me. "Bella, I never have and never will love Lauren."

"So why are you with her?" I asked, feeling anger rise in me as well. What was the point in being with someone who you couldn't ever love.

"I'm not anymore," he reminded me, and moved across the room to sit by me. "Bella, there is something you need to understand about Lauren." He looked at me, his eyes pleading with mine. I felt my heart immediately soften, the anger disappearing instantly.

"She has issues. There is a reason she is the way she is. I've never met anyone more determined than her when it comes to getting what she wants. Her mother is a psycho, Bella. Her mother pushes her to be the best at everything, and punishes her harshly when she doesn't achieve it.

"I don't know why I stayed with her, but I felt like I needed to help her. I wish I could explain to you why she is the way she is, but it really isn't my story to tell. Please know that if I ever knew she was treating you that way, I would have put you first. _Always, Bella._"

I blinked as unwanted tears sprang to my eyes, I blinked and wiped at my cheeks. Nodding my head, I seemed to grasp a little of why he was with her. Edward always felt like he had to save everyone. It was one of the reasons why I loved him so much. I sighed as I looked at him wearily. He couldn't save everyone, as much as he might want to.

_But can Lauren be saved? _I contemplated.

"It's not worth it anymore," Edward spoke, as though reading my mind. "I thought I could help her, but I guess I can't. I realized this at the end of school last year, but for some reason I couldn't bring it upon myself to end things. That is, until now," he said darkly.

He sighed as he fell back onto the bed. Eyes closed, as he lay sprawled across his bed, Edward brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He only ever did that when he was stressed.

I quietly lay down beside him, choosing not to speak. We allowed the soft music playing on the stereo to envelope us, and I stared at the ceiling, trying to concentrate on counting the stick-on stars that he'd had up there since he was eight. The tears that had formed in my eyes began to seep from their corners, and I brought my hand up to my eyes to swipe furiously at them.

I heard Edward shuffle beside me on the bed, and he pulled me to his side to hold me. I took a small intake of breath as his fingers started to trace patterns on my arms; he was trying to soothe me.

"I'm so sorry, Edward," I whispered, my voice sounding breathy to my ears.

"Shh," he said, as he held me.

We talked as we lay side by side, his arms wrapped around me. We didn't talk about Lauren anymore, but I did tell him about journalism, and how I had enjoyed it after all. He grew stiff when I mentioned that Mike Newton had asked me out on a date, and that I'd accepted. However, he didn't say a word about it, he just nodded, and I felt slightly miffed that I obviously couldn't make him feel jealous.

Edward shifted into a sitting position and shuffled me so that I could rest my head on his legs. He picked up the remote that was lying on the bed and switched on the plasma TV that was mounted on his wall. He dropped the remote on the bed and it bounced once. Then he pushed his fingers through my hair, and I closed my eyes, relishing in the feeling. I was comfortable, and the TV made for good background noise. As it had been turned down low, I soon drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster of a day.

~*~*~

Lauren shape shifted into a vulture bird, and she tried to swoop down at me, occasionally scratching at my skin with her claws and large beak, but then Edward would save me, and Lauren would fly away, miffed that she couldn't get her meal.

Then we were alone, together, and Edward's lips came down on mine, pressing against my lips. His lips would coast down my neck, and across my collarbones. His hands would drift up to cup my breasts, and I'd moan. His admission of want, of need, would whisper in my ear, and I'd moan again and again.

His skilled fingers would float across my skin, always passing over the flesh that I wanted so badly for him to stroke. I'd beg him, call his name in my haziness, and my eyes would be met by his smirking smile.

This dream was set on repeat, one that I lived night to night; a dream that had started the night after our trip to Seattle, a dream that usually had me tossing, and turning in my sheets as I begged for the release that he would never give me.

I loud groan caused me to wake; my eyes flew open as I was brought to the brink of an orgasm, only to fall back down again with no wish fulfillment.

"Bella!"

I looked up at Edward. I was still lying across his lap, and embarrassingly, my face was buried in his crotch. He was hard. His hand reached out to cup my face, his thumb stroked my cheek, the contact searing my skin. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had been dreaming.

"Oh, God," I said as comprehension hit me, and blood flooded my cheek. Edward was breathing as hard as I was. I pushed myself off the bed, away from his touch, and backed away from him.

"Wait. Bella!" He said two words that I barely heard as I ran from him.

Down the stairs, and past Alice who was climbing them. "Bella?" she called, uncertainly to me, but I paid her no heed.

I ran through the door and out across the yard to my own house. Through my front door, past Charlie who stepped out of the kitchen upon hearing the front door slam. "Bella?" Again, I paid no notice. I found refuge in my room, and I closed the door and found my bed. Leaping into it, and sobbing hysterically into my pillow. So ashamed. So embarrassed. So angry with myself.

How could my body have betrayed me like that? The expression on Edward's face was captured perfectly in my mind; I tried to block it out, feeling disgraced.

He had to be as disgusted as with me I was. I hugged a pillow to my chest. Charlie didn't check on me, but I heard him walk past my room, and the floorboard creaked softly as he paused outside my bedroom. Then he continued on, and a few seconds later, I could hear him walking around in his bedroom.

Emmett was in his room; I could hear him, but I hadn't seen him. My tears had dried around my cheeks, making my cheeks feel tight.

My cell phone beeped, and I ignored it, but minutes later, it beeped again, indicating a second message had arrived.

I sighed, and pulled my phone from the pocket of my jeans. It took me a moment to get it out as I was lying in an awkward position. I blinked at the lit screen. _3 new messages_, it told me.

The first was from Emmett; I'd received it unknowingly when I'd been watching movies with Edward.

_Dad wants to know if you'll be home for dinner. _

Oops. I hadn't replied in time, but I guess it didn't matter now. I had already skipped dinner tonight.

The second was from Alice.

_Bella, what's wrong? You left here like a bat out of hell. Did Edward say/do something to upset you? Call me, please. _

The third, from Edward.

_Bella, we really need to talk. Come to your balcony? Please._

I didn't reply to any of them. Instead, I rested the phone against my nightstand, and stood up to switch the light off.

I stumbled back to my bed once the room was bathed in darkness.

When the tapping of rocks against my balcony door came, I ignored them. I stared into the darkness, and eventually the tapping stopped. Edward had given up, or had run out of rocks. I couldn't be sure.

I knew that I would have to face him eventually, but I hoped that at least by then, I would not feel so mortified.

Sleep overtook me soon enough, and my dreams returned to a rerun of the one I'd dreamt earlier that day. Except this time, Edward laughed as I begged for a release he'd never give me.

**End note:**

**Thank you so much for reading, the next chapter should be up shortly. **

**What do you dream about? Please review. **


	8. Emotion Overload

**Authors Note**

**So here is the next chapter and it is from Edward's Point of View!! Yay! You finally get to hear his side of the story. **

**I know I said I wasn't going to do his side that it was going to all be from Bella's side, but he begged me, and it is hard to refuse a begging Edward, let me tell you!**

**These past two chapters have been divided in two. So that is why they are short. I just felt like it should have cut off where it did. However, you do still get a full chapters worth. **

**So this will be the last update for this story until after New Year's Day. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Blah blah blah. :( **

**Chapter Eight**

**Emotion Overload**

**Edward's Point of View**

_Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine. Forty! _I counted the push-ups in my head. Coach Clapp had given us an epic work out and had finished the first training session of the term with push-up exercises.

"Hit the showers, boys. You've done well," he reluctantly praised.

I followed the rest of the team into the locker rooms, blocking out the mindless babble from my teammates. If I focused, I would only hear senseless locker room talk; who had fucked whom and a rating based on a one-to-ten scale on how easy a lay they were and how good in bed she was.

The basketball team had finished ahead of us and was already finishing up showering. A loud smacking noise caught my attention as someone was whipped across their back with a wet towel. Laughter echoed around the room, followed by another loud crack. I rolled my eyes.

My ears perked up at the mention of Bella's name mixed with Lauren's and with a glance in the mirror, I could see that a red tinge had lit my cheeks. They were talking about Bella, my Bella, and my girlfriend. I turned around and faced the group of boys, centering in on their conversation.

"Did you see the way Lauren looked at her? It was lethal. I'd love to see those two get into a catfight. That would be _hot_."

I growled and realized that I wasn't the only one who was seeing red. Emmett stood on the other side of the locker room. His eyes drifted to mine; a protective snarl was shaping his mouth.

"What the fuck are you talking about, Crowley?" I growled.

Tyler Crowley's eyes snapped to mine, and his mouth opened a little, in obvious surprise. He was unlacing his basketball shoes and chatting with a group of guys from the basketball team. He hadn't seen me enter.

"Today, Lauren nearly went at Bella outside the Math classrooms." He looked at me as though he wasn't sure what kind of reaction he would get out of me. "Dude, Lauren's always picking fights with that chick." His tone was defensive.

I narrowed my eyes. "No, she doesn't," I denied. My girlfriend might dislike my best friend, but she'd never pick on her. Bella was harmless.

I glanced up at Emmett who was looking at me as though he didn't know what to think. "You didn't know?" asked another kid from a year below us, a kicker for the football team..

"Didn't know what?" I growled. I was getting sick of this. It was like everyone knew something that I didn't.

"Dude, Bella is like Lauren's personal punching bag."

I couldn't think straight after that. I skipped out on the shower, grabbed my football bag and allowed my feet to carry me across the pavement to the parking lot. I could see Bella in the distance standing beside my car, waiting for me. She was standing with a group of other girls, whose backs were turned to me so I couldn't quite make out their faces.

One of the girls emptied the contents of her bag onto the ground, and I watched as Bella was pushed hard to the ground. _Oh, fuck. _My pace sped up and I started to run.

_Fuck, I swear to God… _My frenzied thoughts came barreling out in angered pants of breath. Fevered. Rambling. Delirious.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked the group of girls. The victimizer turned, her blond hair flicked over her shoulder, and I balked. _Lauren._

I didn't even hear her response, but I ducked down quickly to help Bella pick up her things. I tried to get a look at her but she had covered face with her hair, hiding behind it.

I handed her books to her, and turned, rounding on Lauren. "We need to talk," I snarled. Lauren looked fearful. Her friends scattered and I clutched Lauren's arm tightly and steered her away.

I didn't want to lose control in front of Bella.

"What the fuck is with you, Lauren?" I asked her, spitting out each word with staccato.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lauren said, blinking her eyes innocently at me, but something in her face-expressed guilt. She knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Don't play your stupid fucked up games with me, Lauren. _I know_. You might have hidden this from me, and your threats for Bella to never tell me might have worked, but I know now, Lauren. I swear to God, I was trying so hard to help you, but you've fucked that up for yourself. There's no help for you now."

"Edward, please! You don't understand. She's trying to break us up."

I stared at her; this was unbelievable. _How can she dare to say that? _I thought incredulously.

"Can't you see, Edward," Lauren pled. "She's in love with you, or something stupid. She wants to take you away from me."

I snorted, derisively. "What!" My voice levels rose to an angrier pitch. "Are you insane, Lauren?" I tried to lower my voice, and managed to get it to a more even tone. "Of course Bella isn't in love with me. Are you retarded? She's my best friend." I sighed, weary. _If only Bella _was_ in love with me, _I thought, pathetically.

She rolled her eyes, but this only managed to infuriate me further. "That's it, Lauren. I've had enough of your shit. I thought I could deal with you not getting along with Bella, I figured that was fine, but you just don't mess with my best friend. I suggest you better watch your back," I threatened her furiously.

Her eyes widened with surprise. She knew she was in shit. "Edward," she whined and clutched at my arms. "Please don't. I'm sorry." She was apologizing now but I could tell she held no ounce of remorse.

"Fuck off," I spat and wrenched my arm from her talons. I looked around to where I'd left Bella, and with a horrified realization, I found she had disappeared.

"Where'd she go?" I mumbled, looking wildly around the parking lot trying to find Bella.

"Edward!" Lauren screeched behind me as I stormed away from her, trying to get to my car.

"Please," she begged. Oh fuck, she was crying now. I turned on my heel again to face her. She was fucking ugly when she cried. Her face became blotchy, red skin, while her eye makeup ran, causing inky lines stained her cheeks.

"Lauren," I addressed her, speaking calmer now. "I told you before; I promised I would try to help you, but I can't do that anymore. You've screwed that up all by yourself. Bella didn't break us up, _you_ did. You just don't fuck with her and think you can get away with it."

I turned from Lauren, leaving her behind. She continued to whine, but it was fairly easy to block out the noise when I was so focused on finding Bella. I figured Bella must have started to walk home already, but I had to be sure. I searched the parking lot for her, and then returned to the buildings. I found Angela and Ben walking together near the English classrooms where I knew they'd finished Journalism. Angela's hair was messed up and I raised an eyebrow, wondering briefly what they'd been doing. Then I decided I didn't want to know.

"Have you seen Bella?" I asked them. Angela's eyes were wide as she stared at me; I wondered briefly how I must look. Red face, angry eyes, no doubt my hair was a mess as well, what with the way I kept pushing my hands through it in irritation.

They shook their heads and I mumbled my thanks, walking back in the opposite direction. Lauren was gone now so I made it to my car without incident, pulling my car keys from my pocket and cursing when they fell to the pavement.

As I crouched to pick the keys up, I noticed a small book that had fallen underneath the car. It was a journal, my heart started when I realized it belonged to Bella.

Reaching for the book, I held it loosely in my hand; it was covered in woven material, and bound by a green ribbon. I stood to my feet slowly, and opened the door of my car, sliding into the leather seats.

I was still fuming with anger, though as I looked down at the journal still in my hands, I felt a wave of calm wash over me.

Throwing the journal to the back seat of the car I realized that I'd have to give it back to Bella. I pushed the gear stick into reverse and backed out of the car space, then into first and peeled out of the lot.

I reached the halfway point back home when I saw a lone figure walking by the side of the road. It was a quiet street, one that not many cars travelled down, and the figure was hunched over in the rain. She hugged her arms around her jacket, trying to keep herself protected from the misty rain that was beginning to get heavier.

Bella looked up surprised as I pulled up, almost beside her. I clambered out of the car into the rain, the anger I felt from before waved over me again as I saw that she'd been crying. I wanted nothing more than to hold her in my arms and kiss away her sorrow.

I loved this girl. She was my best friend, and I loved her more than anything or anyone.

I quickly pulled her into my arms, wanting to give her comfort, though I doubted I could fix the damage Lauren had caused. For how long had this gone on for, without me knowing? If only I had known. I felt like the world's biggest jerk.

"Ed-Edward!" she gasped, trying to breathe, and I realized I was holding her too tightly, crushing her against my chest. "I can't breathe!"

I let her go, though not entirely, and she stumbled back half a step.

The comfort of her embrace had calmed me significantly, though I still felt fury with myself for what had happened. Did the whole school think I'd let this happen? Why hadn't anyone told me up until now?

I remembered the journal sitting in the back of the car, but something held me back from mentioning it to her. I didn't want to read it -- I wasn't going to invade her privacy-- but somehow having something of hers, her secrets… I wanted to hold onto it for that little while longer.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" I asked her.

"You seemed a little busy; I didn't want to interrupt."

She felt so small in my arms, I remembered what Lauren had said, about how Bella supposedly loved me, and I felt a pang of longing in my chest. "We broke up," I blurted out, wanting her to know that I chose her, and not Lauren. I stared into her eyes trying to find a glimmer of something, anything, any reaction.

She looked surprised. _Why is she surprised? _

"You what?"

"I saw what she did, Bella." I recounted all that I had seen feeling guilty and remorseful, horrified, repulsed, and anger. It was a lot of emotion to deal with.

She looked guilty as she bit her lip and I held back a groan. I wanted to bite that lip for her or touch her lips, but I managed to restrain myself. She buried her head against my chest, hiding her face from me once again.

I sighed and pulled her to me, holding her tightly, then steered her in the direction of my car. There was no point in standing in the rain all night. We would talk and she would tell me everything.

~*~*~

We did talk, and then we watched a bit of TV. I felt like the world's biggest dickhead when Bella spilled about Lauren. I tried to explain her to Bella, but found it was a pointless exercise; there were no words to redeem that fucked up piece of work.

Only, _I'm sorry. Please can you forgive me, Bella? _Which I did ask, again and again, but she seemed to think that there was nothing to forgive. She was so magnanimous.

She fell asleep in my arms and I turned the volume down, choosing to watch her sleep over the inane television program.

Her face was scrunched up tight, her brow furrowed as she battled a scene in her head. My fingers ran through her hair, in an attempt to soothe her, but then she whispered my name in her sleep and I smiled, feeling giddy. She was dreaming about me.

I continued to watch her sleep, her breathing was slow and even, then it began to pick up pace. "Edward," she murmured again, her breaths were coming in soft pants now.

I looked down at her body and noticed that it was responding quite visibly to her dream. I could see her nipples poking through the thin material of her bra and t-shirt. My eyes widened with awareness, as I comprehended what was going on. Bella was dreaming about me, but it wasn't just any dream, she was having a sex dream. _About me._

_Oh God, Bella. _My body grew still_,_ and tense. I didn't know what to do. Her face buried into my groin. My dick stiffened and twitched. She moaned again, her lips touched the denim of my crotch. I almost came right then and there.

I remembered the sensations I'd felt with Bella in the hot tub with me, at my parent's apartment in Seattle. I'd pushed her away then because I couldn't bear to hurt Bella. I'd entertained the idea of Bella and me together many times; I longed to kiss her and tell her how I felt. While at the time I had cared about Lauren, and I had wanted to help her, I had always loved Bella and would always choose her over anybody. That night, I had ghosted over her skin with my fingers, had entertained the thought of undoing the string of her bikini top, but had pushed her away because she was my best friend, and nothing more.

She'd been so hot that night. I'd sported an erection from the moment dirty words started flowing from her pretty mouth. Rosalie's idea of a game had left Bella's cheeks flushed a gorgeous shade of pink, and me with a throbbing erection for most of the night. The mixture of alcohol, good times and my best friend, who incidentally I'd been in love with most of my life, had left me without much reason or rationale.

I'd pushed her away, hoping not to hurt her, because I absurdly thought that she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

Coercion found me once she'd left and I gained back my level head. I had jerked off in the shower after that, stroking her out of my system.

Now she was reaching her climax, and I debated on what to do. I could wake her before it happened, but my own selfish desire prevented me from making a sound. Her breaths were coming in loud pants and she nuzzled against my loins stirring me into a wild frenzy. Her cheek pressed against my hardness and I whimpered.

"Oh, Bella," I breathed. I felt like the world's biggest prick. I was getting off from my best friend, who was fast asleep, and she was getting off on some dream version of me.

"Edward!" she cried out loud, and I groaned loudly, almost jizzing my pants at the sight of her almost falling to pieces in my arms. Her eyes sprang open as she gasped, and I sucked in my breath as she looked up at me.

"Bella," I groaned and I tried to control my own breathing. her eyes were dark with lust. I wanted to reach out, to touch her face, to kiss her, but then her expression fixed to one of awareness, and she jerked up away from my lap. My body groaned at the loss of contact.

"Oh, God," she whispered, horrified. She jumped from the bed and backed away. She was going to run.

"Bella! Wait!" She didn't listen though, just ran, leaving her book bag behind in my room.

A few minutes after she'd left me, I was pacing my room like a hungry lion in a cage when Alice stormed into my room.

"What the hell did you do to her? I saw her on the stairs; she looked like she'd seen a ghost," the fiery pixie said, looking like a devilish Fury. She bared her teeth and snarled; Alice was protective of her friend.

"Alice, don't. Don't ask me. I swear though, I didn't do anything." _But I probably should have._ I should have done something to stop it, something to prevent this pandemonium.

"Fix it," she hissed, and then stormed out, slamming the door behind her. I felt panicked. My hard on had shrunk at the sight of Bella fleeing.

"_Fuck_!" The expletive flew from my mouth and I the anger I'd been trying to repress all afternoon came flying back in full force. I started paced my room again; the lion was more than hungry.

"Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!"

I sent Bella a text message, but I got no response.

My family left me alone, no one bothered to ask me if I wanted dinner. Alice knew me well enough to know I needed time alone.

I tried to process my feelings, pushing each one into its own box. I was predominantly angry. I was angry with Lauren and with myself. I was angry because I'd allowed Lauren to play her mind games on my best friend, and I knew Lauren well enough to know why she was the way she was… Her family was fucked up. I'd explained that to Bella, but I couldn't explain how fucked up. As much as I hated Lauren in this moment, I wouldn't betray someone's trust.

Her skin was marred with small, round scars of cigarette burns from her mother. I'd counted them once; there were twenty-three lining her back, fifteen covering her arms and legs, and twelve that had been singed on the back of her neck.

Her thighs were covered in thin, white lines, inflicted by Lauren's own hand. She tortured herself with her own pocket knife, punishment for when she couldn't succeed. Lauren saw that it was better to lambaste herself, than to have her mother do it for her.

I'd tried to help her; she'd begged me. I'd been young when she came to me, naïve and unaware that such a quandary could exist for someone like Lauren. We'd started off dating, she'd seduced me easily, I'd been in love with Bella for so long, and she'd never seemed to return the same feelings. We were fifteen and I'd been sulking because Bella had a crush on some boy in our class and wouldn't stop talking about him. Lauren had found me and had kissed me, had stroked me, had captured me.

I found her scars as she lay naked with me that same year, and she quietly admitted to me what home was like for her as I stroked my fingers across her back, lovingly. Yet, I never loved her. I wanted to, more than anything. I wanted to forget my love for Bella, to go back to just being friends.

I told Lauren that I would help her. Her mother wanted her to be a model, but Lauren despised the idea; she wanted to get away, out of this town. She needed a scholarship to get there; though, which meant acquiring straight A's, maintaining a perfect GPA, and extra-curricular activities.

My studies suffered to help hers, but then again, I wasn't the one suffering from an abusive family. It didn't matter about me. I had thrown all my energy into helping Lauren achieve freedom.

I pushed my anger aside and focused on a second feeling. Guilt. I wondered how long this thing had lasted between Lauren and Bella. Had it started when we were young? In elementary school? I remembered the day that Bella had spilled her chocolate milk all over Lauren's dress, and in retaliation, Lauren had pushed Bella into the pavement. She didn't cry, she jutted her lip out and looked like she wanted to, but she didn't cry.

I'd been given chocolate milk that day too, and had shared it with Bella. She'd told me that she was coming to share hers with me. Ever since then, we'd always shared our special treats together.

I sat down on my bed as flashes of memories flitted through my mind. I remembered the first year of high school together, and Lauren taunting Bella because she'd worn her hair in pigtails. I had thought she was cute; I was fond of her wearing pigtails. It reminded me of when we were younger and I'd pull at them. She hated it, but I relished the feeling of the smooth tendrils as they slipped through my hands. I loved Bella's hair, and I often found excuses to sift my fingers through it.

I felt guilty because, deep down, I'd known. I'd always known that Lauren must treat Bella differently when my back was turned. It was evident whenever Lauren spoke about her. Continuously derisive and malicious, I don't think she knew how to talk about Bella without sounding vindictive.

I was confused; a flurry of flashing pictures would crash into my consciousness, bringing forth a revelation that didn't make any sense.

Bella's anger as I told her about Lauren wanting me to pick either her or Bella. She hadn't pulled away from me when we'd been in the hot tub. The voice of Lauren telling me that Bella was in love with me this afternoon. Another vision flashed of Bella somnolent, and then asleep, writhing with pleasure in my arms; calling my name as she climaxed.

I sprang off of my bed and rushed to my bedroom window where I kept a collection of pebbles from my driveway, it didn't matter that it was after two in the morning; I had to talk to her. I threw pebble, after pebble at her balcony window. She didn't come. The curtains that covered the sliding door didn't even flicker. I emptied the contents of the jar of small stones and then stood still, staring.

Why was she doing this to me?

I went to bed and crashed in my clothes, waking the next morning with my neck suffering from stiffness, from having slept in a bad position.

I changed my clothes, showered quickly as I stunk like a pig, and left my room quickly. Alice was in the kitchen with a jug of water set to boil. "I called Jazz," she said without looking up. "He's going to pick me up for school." The switch on the pot switched off indicating that it had reached its apex. She looked up then. "You can talk to Bella about whatever it is that happened last night.

"Her birthday is coming up as well, it's on Saturday." As if she needed to remind me. "I want to throw a party for her, so you better have fixed things by then." I grimaced, knowing that Bella wouldn't want a party but it was fruitless trying to argue with Alice about these things.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. She gave me a quizzical look; she was begging for answers, but I'd never tell her.

I quickly downed a glass of orange juice and exited the house out the side door to see Bella sitting in Charlie's police cruiser as he drove away. I caught her eye as she blinked and bit her lip, but then she quickly looked away.

I cursed loudly and kicked at a stray stone sitting on the grass between our houses. I knew that I was most likely going to be playing a cat and mouse game with Bella today.

**End Note:**

**So what did you think? Let me know, please leave a review. **

**What's your morning routine, and what do you have for breakfast?**


	9. Games of Evasion

**Authors Note:**

**First off, I'd like to say how sorry I am for not having updated sooner. I have a few reasons, basically I've just bought a bit of land and we are in the middle of settlement and trying to work out what we're going to build on it. As well as that, I've had to find a new job as my contract that I'm on at the moment has run out. As well, my brother got married just last weekend, and the weekend before that, I had another wedding with family friends. So my weekends have been pretty much tied up. Not to mention the three weeks that I was on holiday and away from a computer.**

**But thank you for your patience, I really appreciate it and if you're still here reading this chapter, I thank you so so so much for sticking with me. I'm not giving up on the story, I have no intention of doing that. **

**Thank you to my beta's Rags and Dani for their help with commas, tense and teaching me the difference between then and than because my fourth grade teacher couldn't. **

**And because you probably don't want to reread the past few chapters, here's a recap:**

_Bella and Lauren got into an altercation after journalism, she was knocked to the ground and spilled her books (includling her journal). Edward saw and interupted before more damage could be done. They broke up because Edward couldn't stand to be with someone who bullied his best friend. Bella and Edward spent the evening together, until she fell asleep, where she had a very interesting and vocal dream. This caused Bella to be extremely embarrassed and she ran off. Edward was frustrated that she won't talk to him and is now preparing himself for a game of cat and mouse. Oh, and also, Mike invited Bella to hang out at the movies on Friday night. _

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Chapter Nine

**Game****s of Evasion**

**Bella's point of view**

I knew I was overreacting; I was embarrassed. My cheeks flamed at just the thought of what had happened last night. Charlie hadn't said anything about it, but he kept looking at me curiously from his position behind the driver's seat. I'd asked him if he could give me a lift to school, as Edward was currently unavailable. Fortunately, he hadn't seen Edward step out onto the front porch as we drove away.

I felt guilty. Charlie's look of shock and bewilderment as to why I would drive with my father to school was apparent. In the past I had very audibly claimed my distaste for driving in the police cruiser, especially to school.

"Can you drop me off on the corner?" I asked Charlie. He gave me a long look which clearly told me that he was exasperated, but said nothing, just nodded his head.

The school was only five hundred yards away from the corner where Charlie dropped me off. It was drizzling, so I walked quickly before the impending torrential rain that had been threatening all morning started to beat down on me.

I knew that facing Edward was inevitable. He was my best friend, my next door neighbor, and we shared two classes together. But I didn't want to be in an enclosed amount of space for long amounts of time with him, not yet.

_How do people solve these kinds of problems? _I wondered as I approached the driveway to the school, just as Edward's Volvo pulled through the gates. He was alone and he stopped beside me, pressing the down button on his window control unit.

"Hey, what gives?" Edward asked, his eyes narrowed, perplexed. I sighed and hugged my books to my chest as some sort of barrier.

"Nothing," I lied. "Dad just wanted to give me a lift."

"Yeah, right." He nodded, though he sounded as though he didn't believe me. My cheeks heated again and I looked away.

A car horn honked from behind Edward. "It's raining. I'll see you in Government." The rain hadn't really increased but I used it as an excuse to get away. He looked behind him and frowned but I escaped before he had a chance to say anything more.

I dumped my books into my locker and quickly made my way to the bathroom before the school bell rang. As I banged the door shut, I noticed Edward had entered the hallway and was making his way to me. I quickly spun on my heel -- not as gracefully as I would have liked -- and ducked into the girls' bathroom, so that Edward wouldn't catch up to me. I didn't need to use the stall, so I stood in front of the mirrors and looked at myself.

The rain had made my hair frizzy, but that wasn't unusual for me. It was always frizzy, eternally cursed for living in a constantly rainy town. Nevertheless, I tried to tame it by running my hands over it, persuading it to lie flat. No such luck.

Bathrooms made me nervous as well, which was a sign of how much I'd really wanted to avoid Edward at that moment. Choosing to willingly use a public bathroom went against my nature. When I was nine, I'd been accidentally locked in the bathroom at the town library. My mother had taken me there to look at some picture books while she did her grocery shopping down the road. I'd been dying to go to the bathroom and so -- after taking a while to actually find the hidden bathroom --shut myself in using the metal latch to lock the door.

After doing my business and washing my hands, I'd tried to unlatch the door but it was stuck and no matter how hard I had tried to push and pull at the lock, it wouldn't budge!

I remember taking a deep breath and looked at the lock, inspecting it closely to see what was wrong with it, but hadn't had much success with identifying anything.

I had stood back and called through the door, hoping someone might hear me. "Hello? Can anybody hear me?" No reply.

I had tried the latch again, but still no luck. It was then that I had noticed the sign on the door; well above my eye level (I'd been pretty short as a kid).

_Do not use metal lock on door__. Press latch on door knob to lock. _

_Why on earth didn't they get rid of the metal latch if they have another lock in place!_ I'd thought incredulously.

It was at that point I had realized I was doomed to live the rest of my life rotting in that small bathroom stall.

I'd cried and cried, occasionally banging on the door, only to get no reply. Hours had passed by, and my voice had grown hoarse. My hands become tired and sore from banging heavily on the wooden door. My legs had been worn out from trying to jump and reach the window, which was set far too high to climb out of, and I was exhausted.

They had found me eventually, where I had been, curled up on the floor, the sky outside had become dark. My mother had been hysterical, most likely thinking I'd been kidnapped, as she'd been screaming that she thought her baby, her precious baby had been _stolen_!

A police officer had searched the building for me and after discovering one of the staff bathrooms to be locked, he'd busted it open and found me.

My mother never left me alone to buy her groceries after that, and I had been subjected to stand by her side while she shopped endlessly.

It took me years to get over my fear public bathrooms. And even still, I now only ever used them if I was desperate.

The bell rang, pulling me from my memories, and I waited a few more minutes to be sure Edward was gone.

I knew I was a coward; I was scared of his reaction. There was no doubt after what had happened last night that he knew how I felt about him.

_God! _I clamped my eyes shut and pulled at my hair. I knew Edward wasn't vindictive or would ever say anything cruel to me, but I didn't think I could handle his inevitable rejection. Boys like Edward Cullen didn't date girls like Bella Swan. That was the way high school worked. The best I could ever get was to just be his friend; his closest friend. The one he came to when things with his real girlfriends went wrong. And then I would fantasize about us being together, even though I knew it would never happen.

And now that was all going to stop because I'd basically ruined our friendship. I was frustrated with myself and my body, which I had no control over. I yearned for Edward's touch; apparently it was a typical human response and one that I could easily control when I was awake. It was just not one I could control when I was asleep.

I really needed to talk to someone about what had happened, but there was no one that I could talk to. I'd also noticed that morning that I was missing my journal. Having spent most of the night tossing and turning I'd wanted to write something about what had happened down on paper. I'd searched my bag but it wasn't there even though I was sure that was the place where I'd last kept it.

My room was a complete mess by the time I'd given up. I tried to think hard as to where it could be and a sinking feeling occurred in my stomach as I realized it had more than likely fallen into the wrong hands. Anyone's hands but my own would be considered wrong. While most of what I wrote in there was just general ramblings, thoughts, and feelings, there were secrets of my life that nobody but Alice knew.

I exited the bathroom after giving enough time; there were only a few more stragglers in the hallway as I rushed off to English. Mr. Mason was still setting up for his class, but gave me a disapproving look anyway.

"Sorry," I murmured as I passed his desk and slipped behind mine. The class was preparing themselves for the first lesson of the day by getting as much gossip out as possible.

"Did you hear?" one asked.

"About Lauren and Edward?" another followed.

I rolled my eyes; it was clear that the news of the school's favorite couple breaking up was out.

"I heard that Lauren cheated on him with Tyler Crowley."

"No way!"

"Yeah? Well not only that, but I heard that Lauren is pregnant and is getting an abortion."

"Oh my God!"

"That's garbage; I heard that Lauren was getting jealous because of all the time he spends with Bella Swan."

The voices hushed after that, as they realized I was in the vicinity of their conversation and I couldn't make out the whispers after that, but I could feel the stares on the back of my neck.

"Okay, quiet down." Mr. Mason was finally ready to deliver his lesson to the class.

The class passed far too quickly for my liking, and soon enough the bell signaling the end of first period rang. This meant that I had five minutes to get to my next class, a class I shared with Edward.

I sighed and dragged myself out of my chair and down the hallway toward Government. I was usually the first one present in Government, as I had only a few classrooms to pass to get there. Edward had to travel further, as he was coming from the Math Department.

I hid behind the corner near the classroom and waited until the last possible moment before entering. Edward was already at his seat, and I once again received a look of surprise and disapproval from the teacher. I was usually early to my classes.

"Sorry, Mr. Jefferson," I mumbled as I walked past him and to the table I shared with Edward.

Mr. Jefferson started the class straight away, which was a relief, but I really wasn't that lucky. It only saved me from having to talk to Edward out loud.

_Why are you avoiding me? _He wrote and tore the slip of paper, which he slid across the table to me.

**I'm not avoiding you**,I wrote back. My hand shook a little bit.

_Don't treat me like an idiot. I saw that you saw me coming to your locker to speak with __you. You got your dad to drive you to school. You usually __refuse __to let your dad drive you to school. What gives?_

**You know what gives. **

_Okay__, so I might have some idea, but why won't you talk to me? Its fine, Bella. Honestly. That kind of thing happens all the time to people. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean, yeah, it's a little awkward, but I've known you your whole life. I know stuff about you that's far more embarrassing than getting off on some dream. _

I sighed. Was this going to be resolved through note passing in class? I highly doubted it, but I took the paper from him and started to write once more. I was beginning to run out of room.

**Don't you think I know that? I do-**

He took the page from me, not letting me finish, and I rolled my eyes in frustration. But when I looked up, I noticed that the teacher was now standing over our desk with his hand out, palm facing upward. He was looking between Edward and me.

"Anything you'd like to share with the class?" Mr. Jefferson said. He was trying to look formidable and intimidating but he was old, short, and round, so it was a pretty difficult task to fulfill.

"No, sir," Edward said, scrunching up the piece of paper as much as he could in his fist. Mr. Jefferson still had his hand out, waiting expectantly.

"Give that piece of paper to me," he ordered.

"What piece of paper?" Edward asked with his eyebrows furrowed, as though he were unsure of what exactly Mr. Jefferson was after.

"That piece of paper that is in your hand." Mr. Jefferson was quickly losing his patience with Edward. My whole face was aflame. If he read what was there out loud, for the whole class to hear, I would without a doubt die.

"Read it out loud," someone encouraged the teacher from across the room.

Mr. Jefferson looked over his shoulder to glare at the student for disrupting him. "Quiet down."

By the time he looked back, Edward had stuffed the offensive paper into his mouth, chewed quickly to compact the disgusting paper into a smaller portion, and swallowed it. He shuddered a little in distaste, but overall had maintained a look of innocence.

Edward held his hands out, palms up for Mr. Jefferson to look at, but the teacher was no fool. He'd realized that Edward had swallowed the paper whole. He sighed in defeat.

"If I catch you passing notes in my class again, you'll stay after school in detention." His eyes swept from Edward's to mine. "That goes for you, too, Isabella." I resisted rolling my eyes. Mr. Jefferson was the only person in existence that insisted on calling me by my full first name.

We didn't dare continue passing notes, and my face remained red for the rest of the class. I felt grateful to Edward who had saved me from complete humiliation. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Edward was staring at me, but I faced the front of the room and refused to look at him.

When the bell rang, I tried to make a quick exit, but unfortunately, lack of speed, agility and grace (three things that Edward did indeed possess) prevented me from doing so. Edward's arm shot out and he grabbed onto my wrist.

"Would you just wait?" He was clearly frustrated. I took a deep breath and turned to face him. The rest of the class was already beginning to filter out. The teacher remained stationed at the front of the room, and I wasn't prepared to have this conversation in front of him.

There was a break of ten minutes between second and third period, which gave us enough time to go to our lockers, attend to the bathroom and take care of any other needs.

"I'll walk you to Trig," he offered. The Math Department was the furthest building away, which meant that Edward would have to double back for English, which was just down the hallway.

I felt like pointing this out, but Edward's frustrated look at my apparent attempt at defiance prevented me from saying anything.

"Thanks for not giving Jefferson the note," I said, as we fell into step.

"As if I would. He was going to read it out aloud. I could tell."

"And then the whole school would know about it."

"Well, they won't. Listen, Bella, please stop being embarrassed. I actually thought it was kind of… well, hot."

If it were possible for my face and neck to become and redder, then it would have. He reached out to put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him in a one-armed hug. I buried my face in his shoulder for a moment. I felt relieved. That certainly wasn't the rejection I was expecting.

I took a deep breath and decided to put last night behind me. I was still as ashamed as ever for having a wet dream about my best friend in his lap. But if Edward didn't care about it, then I shouldn't either. I wanted to ask him why he thought it was hot; did he in fact think I was hot? Or did he just like watching a chick get off? And thank god he didn't know that it was him I'd been dreaming about. Surely, I would not be able to look him in the eye ever again if he knew that.

I chose not to mention it again, preferring to forget about it.

He released me from our hug and we continued walking. We'd pretty much already arrived, and I had to sidestep as two girls from our grade didn't bother to veer out of the way. I recognized them as Lauren's cronies.

Speaking of, "Have you seen Lauren today?" I hadn't seen her yet, but I was expecting to see her in my next class and was hoping she'd decided to skip. Edward seemed grateful that I was no longer avoiding talking to him like a normal person.

"Yeah, this morning. She tried to talk to me when I got out of my car. Made a big scene. I think most of the school knows we've broken up by now…" Edward trailed off as we approached my classroom.

Lauren was standing outside of the trigonometry room with a dark scowl on her face as she watched Edward and me approach, but said nothing. We were standing out of earshot further down the hallway from where she was. Edward shot her a glare over my shoulder, and then looked back at me. "Please let me know if she does or says anything to you this time?" he pleaded. I nodded my head, but doubted that Lauren would attempt to do anything except sulk, at least for a couple of days.

I was right. She didn't accost me at all, but Edward still insisted on walking me to all of my classes, so she wouldn't have had a chance to anyway.

He met me at my locker after Spanish; Alice had walked with me from the classroom and was in the middle of a rant.

"And then she said that if I wanted to keep Debate Club, Glee, my position on the School Government, and the school's Year Book Committee, then I would have to visit my grandmother. She knows I can't stand that woman! Its _blackmail_, I tell you! She is an evil, evil woman."

I was confused. "Who? Your mother or your grandmother?

"My mother. But my grandmother isn't that desirable either."

I snorted. Esme was far from evil.

"Your grandmother isn't that bad."

"She smells funny," Alice complained.

"Who smells funny?" Edward asked as he came into earshot.

"Grandma Platt." Both Alice and Edward made a face of disgust.

"Yeah, I agree." Edward snickered.

"Edward!" I protested. "Really, Grandma Platt is _nice. _Just because she's nearly one hundred and two, doesn't mean she deserves your cheek. You should both show her a bit of respect."

"Exactly, Bella," Alice agreed and I looked at her surprised. "She's one hundred and _two. _She should be dead already. Maybe she is. Maybe _that's _why she smells."

Edward snorted with laughter; I rolled my eyes but couldn't prevent a small smile. "That's cold, Alice."

The three of us made our way to the cafeteria line.

"Bella!" A voice called out to me as I grabbed a tray. I glanced up and found myself staring into Mike Newton's eyes.

"Oh, hey Mike," I said giving him a friendly smile. I noticed Alice looking at Mike with interest. "What's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to find out what movie you wanted to see on Friday?" He was shuffling his feet as though he were embarrassed, though I had no idea why. I'd completely forgotten about the agreement with Mike that I had made after school yesterday.

That previous afternoon, before everything had happened between Edward and Lauren and then between Edward and me, Mike had asked me if I'd wanted to go to the movies. Of course, he was only asking me as a friend. There was no way Mike was interested in me.

Edward was standing behind Mike, and I noticed Edward narrow his eyes as they focused on the back of Mike's head.

"You're going out with Mike, Bella?" Alice asked, her voice a little higher than normal so it came out as a squeak. I wondered if she was sucking on helium.

"Just as friends, right, Mike?" I smiled at him. He didn't smile back, but nodded his head in acquiesce.

"I really don't mind at all, Mike." I smiled. "Just not something too gory." I turned back to Alice and Edward, feeling rude. "Ah, do you guys want to come too?"

"Oh, no," Alice said as Edward spoke "yes."

"Sure we do. It'll be fun." Edward countered Alice. She narrowed her eyes at him.

Alice continued to look disgruntled for some reason, but then brightened up. "Can I invite Jasper?" she asked me but didn't bother answering. "Oh, we could invite Rosalie and Emmett too!"

"Might as well invite the entire class," Mike grumbled quietly. Alice didn't hear him, but I did, and I felt bad. Maybe I shouldn't have invited Alice and Edward. "See you around Bella." He waved a little dejectedly; I gave a half hearted wave back, still unsure what had gone wrong for him to be so sullen.

Mike didn't speak to me again until Friday afternoon, when he asked me if I needed a lift to the movies. I explained to him that it was fine, and that Edward would give me a ride. He nodded his head, but I still caught a look of contempt that he was trying valiantly to hide.

"Look, Mike, I'm really sorry. I thought it would be okay for me to invite Edward and Alice"

"No, it's fine. Maybe we can do something else some other time."

"Oh, yeah sure. It'll be fun either way, I guess." I smiled, glad that he seemed to be okay with it and making the most of the situation. I couldn't understand why he didn't seem to like Edward or Alice. Everyone liked Edward and Alice.

*~*~*

"Ready?" Alice called from the hallway. I was sitting with Edward in the living room; he was staring at the television while I read a book.

"I don't know, Alice, you tell us?" Edward said, glancing up at her then back to the TV set. We'd both been all set for half an hour, but Alice had spent all the time since we'd gotten home from school getting ready.

She pouted at me. "I wish you'd let me dress you. I bet _someone_ would appreciate it." She winked.

I shot her a disbelieving look. "Alice!" I admonished, embarrassed. I couldn't believe she had said that in front of Edward.

"I was talking about Mike," she said with a roll of her eyes.

Edward huffed by my side, but didn't say anything.

"What about him? He's just a friend." I said, confused.

"Ha," Alice tilted her head back to laugh. "I bet he wouldn't want to say the same thing."

"We're just _friends_. Maybe not even that. He's in my journalism class. I barely even know him!" I sounded defensive.

"Me thinks thou doth protest too much." Alice smirked.

"Why'd you agree to go on a date with him then?" Edward asked, sourly.

"I didn't!" Why were we having this conversation? "We're all going, remember? If you thought we were going on a date, why'd you agree to come?" I challenged.

Edward twisted his face into a strange expression, but didn't say anything.

Alice looked between Edward and me, her eyes widened a little.

I sighed. "Let's just go, already."

We headed out the front door. Alice asked me what movie we were going to see, told me where she thought we should sit, how excited she was, what Jasper was going to wear, who was coming, and asked if I thought romantic comedies were better than action films.

"I don't really care," I said honestly. Both were good. It just depended on my mood.

We'd arrived in next to no time, as the center of town wasn't really far from our street.

Emmett had elected to ride his bike and was already there, along with Rosalie, Jasper, Mike, Angela, Ben, Jessica (a girl from one of my classes who I didn't really speak too much), and Tyler Crowley. I quickly looked around, hoping that Lauren wasn't here too.

"Oh, that's a shame. Not everybody made it." Alice pouted. I looked at her incredulously. _She invited _more _people? _

"Bella! Over here," Mike called out happily to me; he was standing across the room from where I was with Jessica, Angela and Ben. He seemed to be over his bad mood from earlier this week and was happy enough that a good crowd had shown up. He crossed the room.

"Glad you could come. We're going to see _Love Me Not_," he informed me. I nodded my head to let him know that that was fine. He'd purchased a large box of popcorn and had already started to eat some. "Want some?" He waved the box in front of me, encouraging me to help myself.

"No thanks." I shook my head. He didn't offer any to Edward, who was still standing next to me; Alice had bounded over to sit with Jasper, who was lounged across the foyer seats.

The cinema wasn't due to open its doors for another ten minutes, so mostly everyone was still crowded around the candy bar.

Edward was standing closer than what was considered normal, so I looked up at him, but he was glaring at Mike. Thankfully, Mike wasn't even looking in Edward's direction.

I gave Edward a hard nudge in the side. "What?" he asked. His gaze switched to look at me.

I looked meaningfully between him and Mike. "What's your problem?" I hissed, low enough so that Mike wouldn't hear.

"Nothing," Edward grumbled and turned his head away to stare off in a new direction.

I sighed. Why were guys such mysterious beings? I wondered if his strange mood had something to do with the popcorn.

I walked away from Edward, but Mike followed. I went to stand with Angela and Ben. Angela was telling Alice all about her plans for the school paper.

"That sounds really good, Angela. If you'd like, I could bring that up with the school council committee. I love the idea of getting a television broadcast of school news."

"That would be awesome. Thanks Alice." Angela noticed me standing close and grinned at me.

The doors to the movie theatre opened at that moment, and we all began to filter in. I somehow managed to sit between Edward and Mike. Alice was sitting with Jasper, Rosalie with Emmett, Angela with Ben, and Jessica was sitting on the other side of Mike.

The movie was all right. It was a romantic comedy about a girl who was in love with her friend but thought the love was unrequited. It was filled with 'almost moments' that were supposed to create tension between the two characters.

I started to feel a little depressed halfway through the movie. It hadn't passed my attention that the majority of people present were a couple. Tyler, Jessica, Mike, Edward and I were the only singles. And Jessica was practically all over Mike. They were sitting next to each other and Jessica was leaning her head against his other shoulder. Mike's hand was stretched out on my side of the arm rest, but I thought that if he'd done that on the other side, Jessica's hand would shoot out to grab hold.

Edward stretched his arm out to wrap around my shoulders; Mike shifted noisily in his seat.

I tried to concentrate on the movie, but it was difficult with Edward's arm around me. His fingers were tracing the skin on my arm, and I found it very distracting. I turned my head to look up at him; his attention was directed at the screen, but he diverted his gaze once he caught my movement, he smiled down at me.

Edward's smiles were always intoxicating. My breath hitched in my chest and I bit down on my lip. His eyes followed the movement. His lips parted a fraction and I caught a glimpse of white teeth. His hand stilled on my shoulder but pressed down firmer.

Something funny happened on the screen, and the cinema burst into laughter. But Edward didn't look away, and neither did I. His head was coming forward. I could feel my breathing come out in shaky breaths as I realized what was about to happen.

"Hey, Bella, do you want some popcorn?" Mike's voice sounded urgently from my other side. He waved the half empty box of popcorn under my nose.

I blinked up in surprise and self-consciously took a handful of the buttery popped kernels. When I looked back at Edward, he was staring at the screen again. I ate the kernels quickly, not even tasting them. They'd gone cold by that point and I didn't really like popcorn anyway.

I sighed and silently cursed myself, thinking back to what had just been about to happen. _You're an idiot, of course he wasn't about to kiss you. _I reasoned that I was letting the movie get to me.

"Excuse me." I stood to my feet in need of fresh air; Edward's arm slipped from my shoulders. Once again, I felt embarrassed and humiliated. _What does he think of me?_

Edward looked surprised as I stumbled past him.

"I just need to use the bathroom," I murmured. Fortunately, we weren't too far from the aisle, and I was able to slip out without disturbing too many people.

The Forks Playhouse had only one screen, so the candy counter was completely bare, save for one employee, who was sweeping up spilled popcorn from the foyer.

I didn't bother actually going to the bathroom. I didn't need it. Instead, I sat in an overstuffed chair and waited for the movie to finish.

People started to file out about fifteen minutes later. Mike saw me first and hurried over to me. "Bella, you missed the ending! It turned out that the guy was in love with the chick all along!"

"Oh wow, really?" I tried hard to feign some interest; it was kind of cute how excited he was. He reminded me of an overexcited dog. People began to congregate around the seat I was sitting on.

Alice plopped down next to me. "What are you doing out here, Bella? Why weren't you inside?" Alice asked.

I shrugged. "I just needed some air."

"That movie was such shit," Emmett complained.

Rosalie smirked. "Next time, I'm choosing."

Edward was the last to come out, but I was so surrounded by people that he didn't bother to come close.

It was just after nine o'clock when Tyler made an announcement. "Party at my house!" The others cheered.

"Are you okay, Bella?" A softly spoken voice came from my side. Jasper was looking at me with a curious expression. The rest of the group were discussing the movie or organizing rides to get to Tyler's.

"I'm fine, Jasper," I said, worried that I looked too pale or something. I didn't feel sick, but was still feeling embarrassed about what had happened inside. Edward was avoiding me now. He was standing on the other side of the theatre.

"You should come to the party," Jasper suggested.

"Yeah, Bella, let's go to the party!" Alice, always excited to hang out with people, was bouncing in her seat in anticipation.

I didn't normally like going to the house parties that students in my grade organized, but it would have seemed rude to decline.

"Alright. I'll come."

* * *

Thanks for reading!

**What's your favourite movie genre?**


	10. Get This Party Started

Authors Note:

**Hi guys, another installment of Politics for you. I'm not really 100% happy with this chapter but it does what it's supposed to, so I guess I can be happy with that. **

**Thank you to my betas Dani and Ragna, as always they do an excellent job at challenging me and fixing my errors. **

**A very big thank you to unconditionally who hosted the readalong on Twitter, I have some new readers now, so hello to you! This chapter is dedicated to unconditionally for her wonderful support. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter, let me know what you think once you're done.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Get This Party Started**

I'd never been to Tyler's house before. It was a modest house; two levels, three bedrooms, maybe a bit bigger than my own house.

Mostly everyone else had already arrived there by the time Mike and I made it.

I'd driven over to Tyler's house from the movies with him; he had insisted, and I couldn't tell him no. It had been a little awkward at first since I hadn't known what to talk about. Mike was still virtually, a stranger. But after a few minutes of short back and forth questions, Mike started a monologue of what his plans were for after graduation. This seemed to resolve the awkward tension and I listened attentively to Mike's dream of pursuing a career in sports journalism.

"Woo!" I heard my brothers cry of joy as we stepped into the house. Emmett and Tyler had found a stash of alcohol. Apparently, Tyler's parents were away for the weekend which created the perfect excuse for a party. There were roughly seventeen of us, and Tyler had raided his parent's alcohol closet.

Alice immediately skipped over to the stereo system against the main wall in the living room and hooked up her iPod to play music; the thumping bass was predominant in each of the songs she'd selected.

I settled myself on a sofa to watch what was going on in the room. Alice and Rosalie started dancing in the middle of the room and some of the other girls eventually joined in too.

"Here." Mike thrust a wine cooler into my hand, and I eyed it warily, not entirely sure if I wanted to drink tonight. I was especially wary after the last time I drank. I had ended up embarrassing myself with Edward. But I accepted the drink and decided to just not overindulge.

Now that I was feeling easier around Mike, conversation seemed to be flowing more naturally. He sat down on the couch with me. "You should come to parties more often, Bella," Mike said, his voice louder than normal as he was trying to compete with the sound system. He seemed buzzed already, though I couldn't understand how, seeing as we'd only been here twenty minutes. He took another sip of his drink and I smiled politely.

"Bella, come dance with us!" Alice skipped over to where I was sitting and grabbed onto my hand, jerking me from my seat, and nearly causing me to spill my drink all over Mike. I managed to place it down on a side table as Alice forced me to dance.

I hated dancing; I was terrible at it. I certainly wasn't naturally graceful like Alice and Rosalie were. I did my best to mimic them, but wound up swaying self-consciously from side to side as they threw their hands up in the air and spun round and round.

Rosalie and Alice danced around me, urging me on by grabbing my hands and spinning me around. Both girls had very different dancing styles, Alice preferred to dance in circles, using her arms and hands to dance, while Rosalie swayed her hips back and forth shooting tempting looks at my brother, who was watching her where he stood with Edward on the far side of the room.

"Come on, Bella!" Alice took me by the hand again and started to drag me off to the kitchen. "I'll make you a drink."

"I already have one, Alice," I protested. But she waved my complaints away insisting that wine coolers just weren't good enough.

We passed by Edward and Emmett standing against the wall, Emmett was drinking from an amber colored bottle, but Edward wasn't drinking at all. He smiled at me as I passed him and I couldn't help but smile back, relief filling me that he wasn't backing off.

"Bella, we need to talk," Alice hissed into my ear. The kitchen was empty, and Alice dropped my hand to start pouring drinks. "What are you going to do about Edward, Bella?" she asked me. My eyes darted to the kitchen door hoping that no one was eavesdropping, especially Edward.

"Alice, do we really need to talk about this now?" I protested.

"Come on, Bella. Grow some balls already! What's the worst that could happen?"

I blinked at her. C_What's the worst that could happen? Is she serious? _"Alice," I spoke calmly, though inside I was a nervous wreck. "I could lose his friendship _forever_, and I'd much rather have that than nothing at all."

Alice scoffed. "Why would he stop being friends with you?"

"He might not want to stop being friends with me, but it'd make things awkward, he doesn't feel the same, Alice. I know it."

"_How_ do you know?"

"I… He…" I tried to say. "He's _way_ out of my league," I whispered. I felt torn inside as I admitted it.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Are you serious? That's your reasoning? He's out of your _league?"_

I nodded my head. I was furious with Alice. Why couldn't she understand? Alice was popular; she could make anyone like her, and she had security in knowing that Jasper loved her, no matter what.

"Bella," she began. "Edward and I have been friends with you for our entire lives. I love you. I think you're awesome, and I'd rather hang out with you than anyone else. And I know for a _fact _that Edward feels the same. Just because I'm more outgoing than you are and able to make friends easily, and just because Edward's good at football, doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be with him. I don't know what Edward's feelings are, but I do know that he wouldn't _not_ like you back because you're out of his _league._" I was trying to keep up with Alice as she was inclined to speak at high speeds when she was raving on about something. Her double negatives were confusing me as well.

"Edward treats you better than he treats anybody," she continued. "Doesn't _that_ tell you something?" She'd finished pouring drinks and handed me two red cups full of clear liquid.

"Go and give that to him and don't come looking for me until you've talked to him," she told me sternly, before marching out the door.

I leaned against the kitchen bench, trying to process what she'd said. _Is she right?_

All of my life, Edward and Alice had always been there for me. He had always preferred to hang out with me than to conform to some high school political system, where someone like me would be pushed aside and considered a pariah.

It was Lauren who chose to make it her job to ensure that most of Forks High School regarded me as one, along with anyone else who got in her way. She'd managed to get Edward along side of her, and had tried to convince him that I wasn't worth being around in the early stages of their relationship. When that had failed for her, she'd tried to come between us, and had threatened me wanting me to stay away.

Edward had never stopped being my friend, or stopped spending time with me. If anything, he'd spent more time with me than he ever did with Lauren. Something I knew she had whined to him about several times in their relationship and something I also knew had come between their relationship.

I pushed myself away from the bench and went in search of him, so that I could at least give him his drink. I found him alone leaning against the wall where I'd last seen him. Emmett was dancing with Rosalie now. I looked away as their close dancing looked like borderline sex and not something I wanted to witness my brother doing.

"Hey," I greeted Edward. He smiled at me, and I handed him one of the cups I was holding.

"Hey, yourself. Having fun?" he asked, taking the cup from my hand.

"I guess," I responded, feeling awkward. "You?"

"Yeah, it's going okay, I guess. I talked to Angela before; she wants me to do some photos for the school magazine."

"Really?" I was beyond excited. Edward's photos were so great; the magazine would benefit so much by having them in there. "That's awesome!" I exclaimed loudly, touching his shoulder emphatically, than regretting it almost immediately as I could feel my cheeks burn hot and my body respond to the feel of him under my palm. I pulled my hand away almost instantly.

I was prevented from hearing his response however, as Mike called out to me.

"Come out here, Bella. You have to see this." I looked up to see him gesturing wildly at me from just inside the balcony sliding door.

I sighed and let my hand drop from his shoulder. "I guess I'll talk to you later?" Edward said, he wasn't looking at me, but instead he was scowling at Mike.

I left Edward and walked to where Mike was; he took my hand to lead me out to a side porch, but let go as soon as we reached the coolness of the night air.

"Are you having fun? I'm glad you came," Mike said. He, too, was clutching a red, plastic cup full of clear, bubbly liquid, and was now speaking with a slight slur.

"Yeah, it's alright. Tamer than some of the other parties I've been taken to," I admitted and laughed. "Not that that's many."

"You should come more often; it'd be good to see you." I noticed that this was the second time he'd told me to come to more parties. I smiled. Mike was being really sweet.

"Thank God Lauren Mallory isn't here tonight." Mike took a loud gulp of his drink and looked out across the garden. "She always ruins these kinds of things."

I raised my eyebrows and swallowed nervously; I really didn't want to hear about her.

"Did you know that she and Edward broke up?" He paused and laughed. "Of course you would. You're pretty tight with him, aren't you?"

I nodded but didn't say anything. I turned toward the garden to stare at the tree line that bordered the forest. It was dark but the light form the porch made me able to see well enough. I wondered if he was planning on showing me what he'd intended to show me.

"So… You and Edward, you're not…" he trailed off. I noticed he was fingering the rim of his cup, and he seemed nervous for some reason.

"Not…?" I asked, not understanding what he was alluding to.

"Well, there's a rumor around school saying that you and Edward are having a side thing, at least you were when he was with Lauren. Is that still…"

I gasped, shocked. "What?! No, Edward would _never_ do that!" I was mortified, angry and upset. "Why would people say such a thing?"

Mike shrugged but seemed to look pleased over what I'd said. He was grinning broadly.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing. I'm just glad to hear that you and Edward aren't…" he trailed off again and when I gave him an exasperated look, he finished his sentence. "You know, together."

"Oh." _Why would he be glad about something like that?_

The door behind us slid open, and I could hear the music volume increase and laughter float out the open door. I didn't bother to turn around to see who'd opened it, and whoever it was didn't join us.

"You're a really cool chick, you know?" Mike complimented me.

I smirked and then laughed. "Right," I said. _Is he for real? _I thought internally. He obviously didn't pay any attention to what Lauren and her cronies said about me. I looked sideways at Mike, and his expression told me that he was being serious.

"Oh." It wasn't until that moment that I realized just how close Mike was standing. His elbow had bumped against mine as we'd leaned against the railing, but now he was standing, facing me.

"I'm sorry I led you out here on when there wasn't anything I really had to show you."

"Oh."

"I actually wanted to go out with you alone tonight, Bella," he admitted. His eyes danced around and then finally rested on mine. He looked nervous.

"Oh?" I was beginning to sound repetitive.

"Yeah, I was planning on taking you to see a movie and maybe ice cream or something. We could have gone for a drive…" He trailed off again, his eyes flicked back to mine trying to figure out my reaction.

"Oh." I bit my lip. It seemed as though I couldn't do anything more than stand and blink stupidly, gaping like a deer in headlights.

"I really like you, Bella. Maybe you and I could try and do this again sometime? Just the two of us."

"Um…" The sliding door to the house slid nosily open again as the other person who'd been outside stepped back in. I turned my head, welcoming the distraction and noticed it was Edward.

I was momentarily distracted by the sight of him. _How long has he been listening?_

He shut the door behind him with a little extra force than what was required. The action made the pane in the door shudder. I turned back to look at Mike, who was still waiting for me to reply.

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Mike, I really do like you as a friend, but I'm not looking for more than that." I felt terrible. Here was a really decent guy offering to take me out on what sounded like a nice date, and I was turning him down for my best friend.

"Oh, okay." Mike looked away, his cheeks reddened.

"You know, I reckon Jessica might like to go on that date with you," I said in hopes of making him feel better.

"Jessica Stanley?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, I think she might have a thing for you."

Mike seemed shocked, but pleased to hear it. "Cool. Okay, well, I might go talk to her then…" Mike quickly said goodbye and walked back inside to the party, leaving me out in the cool night air.

"Bella," Alice stuck her head out the sliding door. "Are you coming back in?"

I nodded and headed back inside.

The party died down after that. I didn't get my chance to talk with Edward again. He'd disappeared with Emmett out back and didn't reappear until the party was dying down.

I'd had about three drinks all evening, not including the half a wine cooler Mike had thrust upon me at the beginning of the night. I didn't feel too bad though; my head wasn't spinning like it had the night we'd been in Seattle.

"Bella, I'm going to stay over at Jasper's house, but I'll see you tomorrow." I took this as a hint to let Esme and Carlisle know, if they asked me that Alice had stayed over at my house. She smiled and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek and then wandered over to where Jasper was talking with Ben.

"Ready to go?" a voice from over my shoulder asked me, I looked behind me and found Edward standing there.

"Ready." I smiled brightly, feeling a little bit buzzed from the few drinks I'd had. He chuckled, though his smile seemed forced. He put his arm around me to steer me to his car.

"See you later, Cullen, Bella." Tyler waved us goodbye from the front porch. I yawned as I waved back. It was a little bit after midnight from what I could tell, and I wasn't used to being up this late.

"Where's Emmett? Is he alright to drive home?" I asked, hoping that my brother was in a fit state to get home.

"Rosalie's driving, she didn't drink." Edward held the door open for me to climb into the passenger seat of his car.

"What about you?" I asked him as I settled into my seat; he'd walked around the front of the car and was now positioned behind the steering wheel. Charlie would freak out and lock him up if he found out Edward drove me home drunk.

"I only had the drink you gave me two hours ago. I'll be fine, Bella." Edward's tone was short. My brow furrowed as I tried to work out what was wrong with him.

I dropped it after that and for the duration of the car ride home, silence overtook us. I allowed my head to drop against the cool window. It was raining, once again, and the street lights reflected off the streams of water as they raced each other down the window.

Edward sighed loudly as we started to drive down our street. "Edward." I looked across at him, he seemed tired and weary. "What's wrong?"

He looked surprised and glanced over at me quickly before looking back at the road.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I could tell he was upset. I'd known him my whole life. I knew his looks. Edward usually pinched the bridge of his nose when he was frustrated or upset about something. His brow would furrow when he was thinking hard, and he'd frown whenever he was confused about something.

Right now, his lips were pressed into a thin line, and he was staring resolutely at the road.

"I know something's wrong," I said, insisting he start talking. I hated not knowing what was going through his mind. Especially if I thought it might have something to do with me.

"I said, nothing's wrong. Would you just drop it?" Edward's tone startled me. He very rarely snapped at me, but when he did it usually rendered me incapable of snapping back at him.

I settled back in my seat, my lip jutted out childishly and I crossed my arms across my chest.

"No need to get your panties in a knot," I mumbled, low enough so that Edward wouldn't hear.

He pulled into his driveway, I looked up at my house, and the lights were all switched off. _Charlie must already be in bed. _

"Hey," he said as he turned to me in his seat, a smile on his face. His tone had changed; he looked like he was over his previous outburst, which I was thankful for. Grumpy Edward was no fun.

"Do you know what day it is?" he asked me. I tried to think. Maybe this was a trick question; it was after midnight so it was no longer Friday. "Um… Saturday?" The answer came out sounding like a question because I wasn't really sure what he was getting at.

"Yeah, it's Saturday, but it's also September 13th." It was pretty dark. The only light we had was coming from a street light, but it managed to illuminate Edward's face enough for me to see him smirking at me. "I can't believe you forgot your own birthday."

I hadn't really forgotten, but I was hoping that everyone else would. I'd driven the thoughts of it out of my mind in hope that we could skip it. I know I'm weird. Most people love their birthdays. They love the attention, the presents, the cake…

Renee left Charlie and me the day after my twelfth birthday, and up until then I'd always enjoyed celebrating it. She'd throw me a small party, Edward and Alice would come over and we'd eat cake and play with my new toys together.

Ever since I'd made the decision to stay with my father, my mother had taken it personally and we barely even spoke anymore. There was only the occasional phone call or email, checking in with Emmett and me to let us know she was doing okay.

So, I felt that choosing to not celebrate my birthday most years was perfectly understandable. Well, it was in my eyes. Alice usually went out of her way to make sure the day didn't go unnoticed and Edward would let her.

"Come upstairs. I want to give you something." Edward said, unbuckling his seatbelt and then mine. He rushed around the side of the car to open the door for me. I stepped out, and he grabbed my hand.

My stomach clenched and I felt light on my feet as he guided me into his house. We went through the side door, which was unlocked. Living next to the Chief of Police in a small town like Forks had its perks.

The house was quiet; Edward's parents were also asleep, so we crept as noiselessly as possible up to his room. It didn't escape my notice that the last time I'd been up here, I'd run out mortified. Hopefully I wouldn't be making a repeat performance.

"Sit," Edward ordered me, after switching, the light on his bedside table so that we could see.

I complied, bemused.

Edward rummaged around his desk drawers before coming up with a small box. I eyed it warily.

"I know how you feel about people spending money on you, so don't worry, I didn't pay a cent for this."

He handed me the box, and I took it carefully, not wanting to drop it. I opened up the lid of the box to peer inside. While the box that contained Edward's gift looked relatively new, the silver locket inside was aged. I gaped up at him in shock. I knew what this was.

"Edward, no!" I tried to thrust the gift back into his hands but he wouldn't let me.

"Bella," he appealed, his eyes were big, and pleading. "I want you to have it."

"This was your _mother's_." Edward's mother and father had both died when he'd been really young, killed tragically in a car accident. Edward had only a few remaining possessions left to remind him of them, including the silver locket he was now insisting I take.

"My mother would have wanted me to give this to someone who deserved it. Someone I really cared about, someone I could see myself…" he trailed off, his face twisted and he shook his head. "Someone like you, Bella." He took the locket from my hands and unclasped the latch, then reached around my neck to fasten it.

The locket rested against the hollow of my neck. I opened it up and found a picture of me and Edward, arms wrapped around each other standing cheek to cheek, grinning happily into the camera.

"I have something else for you," he said. I looked up bewildered.

"Something _else_?" The locket was already too much.

A large picture frame was facing the wall. Edward never bothered to wrap presents; he couldn't see the point.

He gripped the sides of the frame and picked it up to carry it over to me. I was already fingering the locket around my neck self-consciously.

I gasped when I saw what was displayed behind the layer of glass in the picture frame.

"Edward!" I sat up straight, staring wondrously as he held a collage of a lifetime captured in photos. "This must have taken you forever!"

There were lots of photos; I could spot some from when we were young, when we'd gone camping or fishing. There were photos of me and my mother, Charlie, Emmett, Alice, Edward… Everyone I loved was exhibited before me.

A note was attached to the picture which read simply. 'Here are the people who will always love you_, no matter what_.'

I could feel my cheeks becoming wet, and when I touched my face I realized I was crying.

Edward didn't seem too startled by it; he was used to my tears.

"Thank you," I said to him, holding his gaze.

He smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

"I love it."

"Do you want to stay?" He gestured to his bed. I knew what he meant. A few times in the past, we'd shared the same bed. Our friendship had always been platonic enough that nothing had ever happened while we'd slept together. But things were different now; if I shared that bed with him, would I ever be able to leave? I was hesitating. And what if I had another dream? What if I moaned his name out loud this time? While we had shared a bed on occasion, it had been a while since the last time we'd ever done something like that. I mean, to be fair, Edward had a girlfriend. _Well, he doesn't anymore, a_ sly voice in my mind told me, tempting me to climb into bed with him.

I could tell that Edward could tell something was up, so I quickly nodded my head before he told me to forget about it. I wanted nothing more than to lie beside him all night long.

Something inside me had told me to stay, and so I did. I set the alarm for a bit before five am to make sure that I was found in my own bed come morning. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning by then, and Edward and I both yawned sleepily at the same time.

He turned around while I maneuvered out of my bra without taking my shirt off, and slipped out of my jeans and into a pair of clean boxers Edward had managed to come up with.

We climbed into bed together and under the covers, Edward reached for the lamp on his bedside table and switched it off, then turned so that we were now facing each other.

"You know something?" I said to Edward as we lay there in the dark.

"What's that?"

"Alice was right; Mike did actually like me."

"Hmm."

"He asked me out again." Edward was silent for a long time and I wondered if he'd fallen asleep, though his breathing suggested he was still awake.

"What did you say?" He asked, finally.

I shifted so that I was lying on my back. "I don't know if I could go out with someone I don't really know or could see myself liking. I told him no. I mean, it just feels wrong to lead someone along like that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Edward said quietly. His hand reached across the mattress and found mine. His long fingers wrapped around mine, I felt my skin heat up instantly at his touch and I shivered at the sensation.

"You're cold," Edward said, having noticed me shiver. He pulled me against him and I rolled into his arms. I wasn't cold at all, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

We fell asleep like that, and when I woke the next morning to the sound of the alarm, Edward was still holding me against his chest. I thanked God that I'd not had any more dreams of Edward while I'd been asleep.

~*~*~

I'd managed to get out of bed without disturbing Edward too much; he didn't even wake when the alarm went off. I made my way to my own house, careful to be quiet as I climbed into my own bed, where I promptly fell back asleep. I awoke a few hours later to hear a loud banging coming from my bedroom door. The sun was much higher in the sky, and the alarm clock on my bedside table said it was past eleven o'clock. "Can I come in? Are you decent? I don't want to see you naked." Emmett was on the opposite side of the door demanding entry.

"Come in, I'm fine."

The door swung open and my brother bounded into the room with a stupid grin on his face. "Happy Birthday, Bella!" For once he didn't have a stupid nickname.

"Thanks," I said as I wiped the sleep from my eye and eyed him warily. "What?" Emmett was looking at me with a smile that I'd learnt to never trust.

I noted that his hands were tucked behind his back, so I eyed him suspiciously.

"What are you hiding, Emmett?"

He chuckled and brought his hands from behind his back to present whatever it was he was hiding to me.

"A cake?" I was more than amused. "Wow, Emmett. You made me a cake?"

He grinned down at me and I sat up straighter in bed so that I could see it.

It was a relatively simple cake, round in shape, chocolate with green icing decorated on the top. I couldn't make out the shape the icing was making and tried to stretch my neck to see it.

"Emmett!" I protested. He laughed, hard. It was hard to suppress a glare as he handed me the cake. I took it, staring down at the green frog that was garnishing the top layer. I hated frogs.

"Rosalie made the cake, but I decorated it. Happy Birthday, Bella!" He was bouncing happily on his toes.

"Happy Birthday, Bells," Charlie said as he stuck his head around the corner of my bedroom door.

"Thanks, Dad," I mumbled, still clutching the cake in my hands.

"Wait, I got you a present too!" Emmett ran out of the room, and Charlie had to step to the side to let him pass. While I waited for Emmett, Charlie entered looking bashful.

"I uh, got you something too," he mumbled and handed me a large, crudely wrapped gift.

I remained silent, as I put the cake to one side and took the gift from him, and deciding not to say anything.

I gingerly took the wrapping paper off, not exactly sure what to expect. Charlie wasn't known for picking the most appropriate gifts.

"Wow, Dad!" I tried to sound enthusiastic. "Monopoly. Cool, thanks." _It's the thought that counts, right?_

Charlie seemed pleased enough at my effort to appear delighted by his gift.

Emmett barreled back into my room not too long after, clutching his present for me in his hand.

"It better not involve frogs," I grumbled. I was so sick of hearing about my phobia of frogs from the person who instilled fear in me in the first place. _Jerk_.

Out of all the presents I'd been given so far, Emmett was surprisingly the best wrapped. "Rose contributed," Emmett said.

_Well, that explains it._

Underneath the wrapping paper I discovered a couple of CD's with a $60 gift certificate to a book store located in Seattle.

"Thanks, Emmett," I said and gave him a quick hug.

"Knock, knock!" I could hear Alice's voice from my doorway. _Oh, no._

"Get up; I have to get you ready. Today's going to be a big day. Happy Birthday, by the way."

* * *

End Note:

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